There Is Hope After All
by The Pillars of Transcendence
Summary: Katrina was in Savannah when the world ended and she's been drifting around Georgia since. She stumbles across the Atlanta group, holed up in Father Gabriel's church and preparing to face down the Hunters. But Katrina has a secret – she's immune to bites. First in the Gaelic Songs Saga [Carl/OC]
1. Chapter 1

_**A/N: Hey everyone! I'm going to skip the intro and get into the nitty and gritty. Enjoy!**_

-1-

I can't quite recall how I got here.

I sat there on one of the swings that was irritatingly squeaky and trailed a booted toe through the orange dust under me. My lazy swinging back and forth made that grating noise almost rhythmical as I stared off out of the abandoned, overgrown playground filled with peeling paint and memories with no one left to remember them. I zoned out and stared at a situation that had more shit in it than a goddamn sewer.

Depending on how you looked at it, the previous statement was wrong. I know how I got _here._ To America. To the state of Georgia in America's famous 'Bible Belt'. That was a no-brainer. But I didn't recall how I _got_ here. To nothing but surviving with the clothes on my back and the will to live not because I had anything going for me but because I was simply still a little too scared to die.

I unconsciously clacked the sides of my combat boots together as I gently swung. The sound was muffled in my ears.

How I had managed to survive this long, I had no fucking idea. Maybe I was lucky. Or just majorly UNlucky. I honestly couldn't tell the difference after all the shit I had been through. Call me crazy, but living as a nomad in a foreign country with no home and no hope, running into only roamers, thieves, psychos and raiders was not what any sane person would call 'decent living conditions'. A sudden gust skimmed the thin top layer of dirt and blew it into my tired blue eyes and I stopped swinging to rub the stuff out of them. I pressed the heels of my palms into my sockets and rubbed, starting to feel the grime and grit work their way out. I tilted my head forwards and my greasy ginger hair slithered forwards down my front, exposing the nape of my neck to the beating sun. I could feel it grow instantly warm and I growled to myself. This heat made me wish I was back home in England with my mother. Or in Scotland with Dad, it would be a little cooler up there than London.

And just like that the tears came, and I no longer had the heart to stop them. I no longer saw any reason to hold them back. They dripped down my arms and stained my army jacket as I felt my chin quiver. I hadn't allowed myself to cry, honestly didn't see the point of it, but in the suffocating heat the dam I had built inside me came crumbling down. And knowing my history with crying, now that I had started I wouldn't be able to stop. My shoulders shook with silent sobs and I swallowed down all of the wails and screams that threatened to come up my throat. I didn't want to bring any unwanted attention to me, and though the area around me had stilled to the sleepy chirping of crickets and the occasional creak from the boughs of trees, I was not so foolish as to believe that there was NOTHINGout there.

I don't know how long I sat out there for. It could've been minutes. It could've been hours. Hell, it might've been days for all I cared. I just prayed to whatever would listen that this was all a bad dream. Some horrific nightmare I was having and I was tossing and turning in my sleep in my hotel bed and Cora would wake me up any time now. But I knew it wasn't a dream. No dream could go on this long, be this horrific. I pressed my lips together in a thin line as one thought crossed my mind over and over again and I whimpered, the loudest I had been this entire time.

I wanted my old life back.

But it was all snatched from my grasp when everything happened. Who knows, maybe Britain had held out against this…whatever it was. After all, it was cut off from mainland Europe and therefore Asia too. If they'd collapsed the tunnel under the Channel and killed off the first of them to appear in the country, they could have held onto law and government. But I guessed I would never know.

Everyone I knew and loved could be dead and I wouldn't ever know for sure.

That thought almost made me cry harder.

I heard a soft, pitiful whine from my right and knew I had to snap myself out of it, pull myself together. I took a few shaky, gulping breaths and wiped my hands on my jacket after clearing the rest of the tears off my freckle-dusted cheekbones. I looked over to see Liesel, the Border Collie I had met along the way, sitting there in the dirt and eyeing me with those compassionate innocent eyes. She gave another low whine at seeing me so sad but I gave her a miserable smile and reached out a hand to tickle her, something which she quickly accepted. Thankfully my voice stayed hushed and steady as I spoke to her.

'Good lass, good lass…'

She licked my hand in comfort before I leant back on the swing and gripped the chain with both hands, letting out a heavy sigh that sank under the weight of this infernal heat. You'd think that I'd have some semblance of what to do when I'd been living in hell for so long, but no such luck so far. I didn't know what the FUCKto do. Like, AT ALL **.** I had so many options before me – not something you'd expect when there were no options left – but I couldn't figure out which one to pick. The way I saw it, I had about five choices to choose from.

I could find a hideout somewhere and hunker down. Not too bad an idea it would seem but there was one huge problem: nowhere was safe anymore. Roamers had made their way through so many places and wrecked so many buildings that most of them would be impossible to fortify, especially since I was by myself and wouldn't have the muscle to do extreme heavy lifting. And say I did decide to go with that option, where would I go? A cabin in the woods? The woods were so large that someone could walk straight past it if it was hidden well enough and never realise. The thing was, most other survivors had probably taken to the woods with the same idea. An apartment tucked away in a city like Atlanta? No one would be stupid enough to enter the city, despite all the roamers that had left in the hunt for food. However, the place would still be crawling and with all the dead ends and tight spots, the place would most likely be a death trap. The coast or maybe offshore somewhere like an oil rig? The ocean is unpredictable, and one day a massive wave could just come down and crush my way off an offshore haven and leave me stuck in the middle of the sea. Perhaps not. And the same goes for a boathouse or something akin to one. Big storm + no warning = house swept out to sea with me probably still in it. I think I'll pass that one too. If I found a good spot somewhere that would most likely see me through a long while, then maybe. But I wasn't going to go out of my way looking for it.

I could find other survivors – who had at least some grip on sanity – and maybe even find a safe zone. But that would be difficult, not only because of how risky it was but also because I had no idea where to even start LOOKINGfor a safe zone. All the safe zones that the American government had set up around the cities had collapsed, most other ones had either fallen like the first ones or had slowly descended into madness. Human nature is a cruel thing, and when your safety is threatened…you'll do anything to survive. I could well imagine that people had turned to eating each other if they were starving, leaving babies to die since they are so hard to care for. Raping. Pillaging. Slaughtering. And sanctuaries and fortified towns were top prizes in other people's eyes. Despite the fact that there was usually strength in numbers, you would be more vulnerable since what you have, others want. And there was no guarantee that the people in the sanctuaries were any better. They could take people in to make them work as slaves or something. No, perhaps it wasn't the best choice after all.

I could stay on the road. After all, that's what I had been doing ever since Savannah got destroyed. With nothing to do and nowhere to go, I had just aimlessly wandered around Georgia since it began. After all, it was probably the safest thing to do in this world. Anywhere you stayed could get overrun by roamers, other groups and gangs. No matter where you are, there are still just enough people in this world that someone would find you eventually. Whether they were nice or not was down to pure gold luck. But the same could be said about travelling. Someone could find you, a not-nice-anymore someone, or a roamer could come up behind you with minimal warning. Finding a place to break for the night was always something of a problem, since if you weren't picky enough then your chances of making it through the night dimmed significantly. And each morning posed a question of which way you would go and where you might end up. Whether you would end up making it through the day to face the same problem again the next night. I continued to do this one since I had no idea what else to do, and it had kept me alive so far. Without a doubt this looked both the most logical and also the most hopeless.

The next choice looked both the best and the worst: suicide. There was so much death constantly surrounding me, the survivor, I didn't think that anyone would look twice at a teenage girl's body lying in a ditch somewhere. Death was quite commonplace to me now. The thing was…it never should be. You should grieve when someone you know dies and you should have others that help you move on and continue with your life, living it in honour of those who passed away. Nowadays if someone you were travelling with died due to a bite or bullet it was standard to just shrug, move on and walk away. If it was a friend then you might be able to grieve if you had any tears left to shed but even that was something of a rarity now, and there was no one to lean on and seek comfort from both because it was such a normal thing and because in this world, the thing that came first was yourself: if you were at risk due to their death you needed to get up, move on and continue surviving almost like nothing had happened. After all, there was a good chance that everyone you would know or ever meet would die right in front of you now. The most awful thing about it all was that usually it was one who killed the other. Yeah, people murdered each other all the time back in the previous world but then there was some sense of law and closure. The question of whether I wanted to actually stay in this hellhole of a world was something that had pressed on my mind since it all went down, and honestly I didn't know what to think on it. If I could ever muster up enough courage to end my own life I would have to do it right, so I didn't end up alive and badly injured. I had a gun: a bullet through the brain would probably do the trick. Problem was…I didn't know what was on the other side. Was it the faces of my family and friends? Was it the world turning like none of this had ever happened? Or was it just everlasting darkness and crushing loneliness? Personally I didn't want to take that risk.

The last option was more delusion than anything else, and yet some part of me still hoped that it was possible: going across the Atlantic somehow and getting back to England. There was no guarantee that it hadn't ended up just like Georgia or worse but I wanted to be able to know, see for myself. I wanted to know if my family had made it, or my friends, or even the stranger I bumped into that one long-forgotten time and never saw again. True it would be nigh-on impossible, but some secret part of me dreamed no longer of a shining career or an exciting life, but of finding a working boat with all the supplies and fuel I could ever need, and sailing away across the desolate Atlantic and landing back on the shore of England. Travelling to London, or Edinburgh, or York. Finding that the people there had survived, managed to hold onto law and government and society. Being reunited with my family, my parents hugging me and telling me they thought they would never see me again…

I am pulled back into the (unfortunately) real world to hear Liesel growling at something. I slowly moved my head and gazed over to her to find that she was stood straight up, ears perked upwards and her jowls curled in a full-on snarl at something that I didn't even have to guess at anymore. I looked to see where she was focused on, only to see a group of five roamers shuffling their way around the fence of the park, most likely having caught the scent of fresh meat if they were moving that fast, but there was no way that they could've seen me sitting on the swing from that distance. I froze for a few moments, blinking stupidly, and quickly stood as I tucked my too-long hair behind my ears. I leant forward and stooped to pick up my red backpack and swung it around my shoulders, the black katana I had miraculously managed to find shaking a bit on my back. I made my way quickly back to the entrance I had come through, and my head whipped around to see Liesel still in the same spot, looking at me with those big brown eyes.

'Come Liesel. Come on lass!'

She bounded after me as I made my way out of the edge of the town and back into the treeline of the Georgia woodland, the trees just barely giving me cover to get away from the roamers.

Break over. Back to surviving.

 _ **A/N: More introductory/inner monologue than anything else, but I hope this chapter wasn't for nothing and gave you a bit of an outline about the character of Katrina. We'll be getting to Gabriel's church and her secret in a few chapters. :P**_


	2. Chapter 2

_**Okay, Chapter 2 now completed! Please remember to R &R, it means a lot. I'll get back to Katrina now… **___

-2-

Slanting golden rays cracked through the thin trees as the boiling sun started to set in the woods, meaning that I had been travelling through nowhere for the rest of the day since those roamers had sent me packing back at the playground. I walked at my usual pace, keeping an eye out around me just in case there were any unwanted visitors. Liesel padded through the trees, right at home here since we'd been doing this so long. I took a breath of the humid air before hooking my thumbs under the straps of my backpack and sauntering on. I could feel tiny beads of sweat littering my brow and the back of my neck as a result of the sticky heat, making it feel like I was taking a hike through an oven. My eyes had started to become itchy not just due to tiredness by also because of my crying earlier.

I would need to find a place to turn in before dark.

Just as the thought of finding somewhere to sleep out here crossed my mind, I glanced up to do a double take to my right. I blinked several times to make sure I wasn't just seeing an illusion and my eyebrows raised a little at what could be considered one hell of a coincidence. I was staring at an overgrown cabin that had been half burned down, but a few of the rooms were still intact.

Enough so I could sleep there.

Hey, I wasn't one to pass up on good fortune. I made my way soundlessly over to the cabin, hand reaching for the handle of my katana as I peered through the window to check if there were any unwanted guests staying there. Seeing no movement from inside, I circled the building to make sure I wouldn't get a nasty surprise sometime during the night, and comforted myself with the fact that Liesel was not growling and her hackles weren't up. I bit my lip as I weighed the options: stay here for the night despite the fact that it wasn't exactly the safest place to hunker down, or move on and try my luck with another spot. After chewing my lip a moment I decided to pick the first option and I slowly made my way to what had once been the front door. After all, there was every chance I wouldn't find as good a place as this before sunset.

The wooden stairs leading to the porch groaned, underweight as I was, as I cautiously made my way up them and pushed the door open with one hand, the feeling of the peeling paint prickly on my palm. I let go of the katana and grabbed my FNX-45 Tactical, complete with a red dot sight. My katana wouldn't be good in tight spots like this; I couldn't swing it properly if a roamer came at me when I was in a doorway or narrow corridor. I went inside to find that the main room was probably where the fire had been started since it was only a husk of what it had once been, nearly two of the walls had completely burned away and plants were starting to grow up from under the floorboards and reclaim the cabin. I heard the soft tapping of Liesel's claws on the floorboards as she sniffed the area and I looked around. A sofa with dirty moth-eaten upholstery leant jauntily on only three legs, and the rest of the furniture in here wasn't really in better condition. I saw another door to my right and gingerly opened it to see that this had once been a bedroom, the doors of the wardrobe hanging on their hinges and the quilt that lay crumpled on the bed ratty and thin. There were two windows in here and both still had all the panes of glass, on either side of the room that gave me a view of two sides in case I got unexpected guests. I bit my lip. These were better odds. There was yet another door at the far end of this room too, and I soundlessly crossed the bare floorboards by the end of the bed to it, swinging it open and casting an eye around a tiny bathroom with grimy tile walls and even grubbier plumbing. Hmm. Well, it couldn't be helped.

A filthy mirror hung above a sink bowl and I managed to catch a glimpse of my reflection for a moment in the dusty golden light. It was an understatement to say I was shocked. I couldn't remember the last time I had seen myself in a mirror. Whenever it was, the shell of the girl who stared at me in exhaustion was not the same girl who I had seen last. My cheeks were starting to sink from the hunger of the apocalypse and my eyes had dark marks beneath them, my jewel-toned blue eyes watery and rimmed with red due to my crying. Despite the sun I saw everyday my skin was as pale as ever, but was hidden under my sunblock of all the dirt and dust that had accumulated on my skin due to lack of bathing regularly. My long ginger hair had not seen a hairbrush for the longest time, long enough for it to have grown into a wild and tangled mess.

I looked like I should be in an insane asylum.

I tore my eyes away from myself and went back into the bedroom, gazing around a moment before slipping my pack off my shoulders and was about to dump it unceremoniously on the bed when I caught myself and lowered it gently. Wouldn't do to throw this bag about. I did another quick check out of both windows and was content to see nothing stirring that would take a bite out of me.

Another bite, at least.

I sighed as I pulled my katana off and laid it on the dirty bed. I returned to the bathroom and wiped off as much crap off it as I could with a hand, and watched myself as I removed my army jacket and my plain grey t shirt. When I was wearing nothing but my grey bra and high-waisted red shorts I bit my lip in apprehension and slowly turned around, catching my messy mane and moving it out of the way so that I could get a better look.

A big hole of a roamer bite in my back stared back at me. It lay on the lower left of my back, just under my bust line. I winced as I thought back to the day I got it. I had been surviving, just like any other day when I stumbled across a herd. Not wanting to stick around, Liesel and I had high-tailed it out of there as fast as we could go and after running for what seemed like hours, we had come to a stop someplace in the woods. Over my heavy panting and looking back to make sure we had lost the herd I didn't realise that Liesel was snarling. Stupidly, I didn't hear the roamer growl coming from behind me. I didn't realise what I mistake I had made until I heard the sound of ripping flesh and felt the searing pain cover my back as the roamer sank his teeth into me. It had taken me all of a second to grab my katana and unsheathe it as I span around, slicing the monster's head clean off its shoulders and spraying black blood across the ground.

But it was already too late. I'd been bitten.

Just because I was going to die didn't mean I had to stop surviving. In fact, it became something of a game to see how long my body could hold out against the infection, hold off the disease that had destroyed the world. I expected my body to last 3 days max. But as the days went on, it became clear that I wasn't showing any of the signs that others had when they were bitten. I never ran a fever. I never became delirious or faint. The only time I thought I was gonna throw up was when I had to clean up the wound and the pain of it made me want to hurl my stomach across the ground. Eventually, as my body shows no signs of weakening or deteriorating, I began to wonder. I counted the sunrises to keep track of the days, and I had held out longer than anyone else I had known.

Today's sun marked the 11th day since I was bitten.

When I had first been bitten I felt sure that there was no cure, no hope once you had been bitten. You would just die after spending several days in agony and that would be the end of it. Now a large part of me is beginning to wonder if this situation was as desolate as I believed it to be. As probably everyone left in the world believed it to be.

My focus returned to the present as I stared at the bite wound on my back and I debated what to do with it. Should I stitch it up? Should I leave it? I pulled the skin around to try and get a better look at it. If I had done that a week ago, the wound would've started bleeding again and I probably would've passed out from the pain. Now I could probably be punched on the wound and not feel more pain than I normally would. Even though the flesh in the wound still looked that fresh red of just-bitten, I gently pressed a finger onto some of the exposed flesh to find that it was growing harder, the contact not causing my any discomfort at all. I cocked my head to the side and tilted my body around a bit. I could see a few small scabs inside the wound – which is probably why it had been itching like a bitch for the last two days – but I was more focused on the fact that the wound didn't seem as…well…DEEP as it had before. I hadn't turned after this long. Was the flesh taken from the bite starting to grow back too?

I hoped so. That damn roamer had sunk those rotting teeth a good inch deep into my back, maybe even more. I didn't really want a gaping hole in my back for the rest of my days. I bit back a yawn as the light faded and as I didn't have any needle and thread, let alone enough light, I decided to just let it air as I slept tonight. Besides, it looked like it was doing fine healing on its own without any help from me.

I traipsed back into the bedroom, carrying my top and jacket in one hand and dragging my boots. I gazed at the bed critically before shoving off the quilt onto the ground after eyeing it with distrust. The bed creaked as I plopped down onto it, not even bothering to remove my boots. I closed my eyes for the first time all day and was barely conscious when I felt a plonk on the other side of the bed. I cracked an eye to see that Liesel had joined me and collapsed like I did, resting her head on my thigh. I was too tired to smile.

I should've probably eaten something, but I was just so goddamn tired. I was exhausted enough that I could feel my muscles tremor when I gently lowered myself onto my side and I was out before I could even think about barricading myself in here.

I woke too soon to the sound of Liesel whining and snarling at something. I sleepily leant up to see that it was pitch black out, the moon barely illuminating what she was so worked up about. I squinted out the window to my left and what I saw made my eyes widen in horror.

A herd was passing through. The moans sounded like an undead orchestra and the group shuffled along. From what I could see, fifty – hell maybe even SIXTY – dragged themselves along the dark woodland floor…

…straight in the direction of the cabin.

I felt the panic rise up in me as I rushed to put on my top and jacket, swinging the katana and pack around my shoulders. I had thankfully left the gun and my butterfly knife in the waistband of my shorts, and I blessed my lucky stars that I had left my boots on. It wouldn't really do to spend ages fastening up boots while a roamer herd was beating down the doors.

Doors I hadn't bothered to barricade.

I flicked my oily locks out from under my jacket and went to the window that was on the opposite side, knowing that making it out of the bedroom door was a little futile now. Despite how dark it was out and their not-so-good eyesight, there was no doubt they would see me if I went that way. Liesel, sensing the urgency of the circumstances that we were in, hopped off the bed and stayed behind me as I struggled to open the stuck window. I periodically glanced back at the other window directly across from me and did my best to swallow down the panic when I saw that they weren't changing direction or slowing down. My terror gave me strength and the damned-to-hell window was inching open as I frantically shoved it upwards but, to my unbelievable anger, it kept sticking in the frame.

I was NOT going to die here, after all this time.

When it had stop-started all the way to halfway open, I stepped back and saw that I could JUST squeeze through the gap. Maybe. I turned to see the first roamers breaking out into the small clearing where the cabin was. They were just a little too close for me, so I was tipping the hell out of here NOW.

I picked up Liesel – not a hard task since she was lighter than I was – and all but shot her through the window. I quickly removed my pack and flung it through, praying to God nothing in it activated and exploded when I picked it up again, and gripped the frame as I slid through legs first. I landed with a muffled thud on the dry leaves and hard earth and didn't even pause to take a breath before launching myself forward, grabbing my bag and full-on sprinting into the trees, not daring to look behind me to see the herd encroaching on the cabin.

Skin of my teeth.

The darkness was deepening as I continued on, having slowed from a sprint to a fatigued walk a while back after I was sure that no roamers had caught sight of me and were following. I really didn't need a herd on my tail in the middle of the night, especially since I once again had nowhere to go now that my camp for the night had been overrun. I could hear Liesel's dainty feet pattering along in front of me as I walked like a blind man, hands out in front of me to avoid smacking into any trees and landing on my butt. My fingertips trailed the textured bark of the trees that I swiftly avoided in my vain search for somewhere else I could rest for the night. I shook my head slightly and chastised my hopes. Why was I continuing on if there was no point, if I wouldn't find another place to stay the night? I guess the reason I did was…because I had nothing else to do. I couldn't really just give up and sleep on the forest floor, tempting as it sounded, since that would be probably one of the stupidest ideas I had had for a long time in my LONG history of stupid ideas. Even if I had Liesel with me, I could wake up again late that night to find that a herd was surrounding me, and I didn't really want to get ripped apart. That was not what I pictured when I imagined me finally kicking the bucket.

I figured I would just continue to walk until dawn, where I would look for any sort of shelter that this hellhole of a world could provide and live tomorrow like I had lived the last few years. Well, not lived…survived.

I had no sense of direction or time when I stumbled through the woods into what appeared to be a clearing of some sort. And since I couldn't exactly see where I was going, I bashed my foot on something and almost tripped over what I would guess to be a large rock. I gasped in a bit of pain and hissed out a long string of cuss words at my incredible bad luck. I managed to catch sight of Liesel, stood to my right and watching me with what I fancied were eyebrows raised.

'What?'

She let out a low whine and trotted off into the dark, leaving me looking at her incredulous and tripping to catch up with her. I whisper-shouted at her, wondering if the Collie hadn't lost her mind.

'Liesel! Liesel!'

I was barely able to keep an eye on the white patches of her fur as she moved through the undergrowth and headed off through the trees. I huffed a little and kept my eyes trained on the ground, just in case there were more of those infernal rocks waiting to trip me up. If I was going fast and I smacked into one I could end up face planting and, knowing me, would in all likelihood break my nose.

'Liesel! What has gotten into you?!'

I was so engrossed on where I was going I didn't realise that she had stopped until I almost fell over her. Arms flailing I righted myself quickly and glared at her, seriously questioning her sanity. She gave me another low whine and I frowned down at her. There was something up. I peered into the blackness around us, trying to figure out what had gotten her so edgy when I stopped and stared in a bit of shock.

A little to the left were two shining lights. Red, purple, green, blue and yellow flickered in the shape of two archway windows, side by side, hovering there in the darkness. Each of the colours were in the shape of rectangles, vaguely registering in my mind as the panes of stained glass.

It must have been a church.

I gulped after a moment when it hit me. This place was a church. Churches have graveyards. My brain froze a little to think it might not have JUST been a rock that I had fallen over back there.

Like a moth drawn to a flame, I inevitably made my way over to the light like it was hypnotising but hesitated before I left the trees and went up to the wooden walls. If there was light inside, it meant that there were people there too. Good people. Bad people. People who would either shoot you and take your stuff or offer you food and shelter. How to tell which ones were in there?

You couldn't.

The best you could do nowadays was try your luck and see. If it went great then well done, you hadn't screwed up. If not, well, you were dead or wished you were. Would I take the risk?

I continued to watch for a while more, pondering over this new dilemma and watching for any movement from behind the windows when I got the distinct feeling I wasn't alone out here. I might have just brushed it off as paranoia from being in the dark but it seemed the Collie felt it too, since she swivelled and dropped low, growling at the darkness. I followed her gaze as much as I could – which admittedly wasn't all that much – to see a black shadow moving further into the woods. Caught off-guard by this, my hand rested on the gun tucked into my shorts and I took a cautious step backwards.

What was THAT?

I could definitely tell it wasn't a roamer. Its movements were way too precise and fast for that. So it was a person? What would a person be doing out here in the middle of the night, watching a church? I winced as that question hit my mind. Okay, so that was what I was basically doing but I had a good excuse. It would be one hell of a coincidence if there was another person just like me out here, who had stumbled across the exact same church I had in the same exact same part of the woods on the exact same day and time of night. It was just a little too farfetched for me to put stock in it.

Eventually, when I was sure that whatever/whoever it was didn't know I was here and wasn't going to jump out the trees and attack me, I turned my attention back to the church to see the lights were still on and steady as ever. I bit my lip as I considered the choice. Leave and take my chances with the now non-vacant woods in the dead of night or go into the church and pray that they wouldn't just kill me. Which did I choose? I chose neither. In the end, I decided to creep up to one of the windows and peer in, see what I was dealing with here. Glancing down at Liesel a moment I patted my thigh lightly to make sure she would follow me, before I crouched down and crept across the clearing to right underneath the window, checking both left and right to make sure no one had seen me or anything. I pressed my bite-side into the panelling of the wall and took a breath before I rose up fully, having to go onto my tiptoes just to get my eye line over the bottom of the window frame.

The inside was predictable. I was peering through a window in the back of the church, so before me was an altar which was being used as a buffet table, littered with lit candles, but I could see it also held a few books too. The aisle of red carpet led straight up to the double wooden doors of the church's entrance at the far end and there were sturdy wooden pews on either side of the aisle. After taking in what it looked like, I froze when I realised there were people sitting in the pews. On the left there was a pretty brunette woman who had messy hair that just fell to her shoulders sitting a few pews back and there was an African American man dressed in black doing something which I couldn't see on the first pew. On the other side was…

I narrowed my eyes and blinked a few times. There was a KID sat there. Not like a proper child, but a boy about my age with messy brown hair and wearing a dirty flannel shirt. Beside him on the pew sat what looked to be a laundry basket which confused me for a bit until I saw a hand emerge from the basket, causing the boy to look over and reach into it. I couldn't believe it.

They had a BABY here?!

Just as I realised this I heard Liesel growling from beside me but like when I was bitten, I was too late to duck and cover. Just as I glanced at her I felt the cold metal of a gun barrel gently touching the back of my head. I froze in fear, swearing at myself for messing this up in such a colossal scale. I heard a deep southern voice rasp out from behind me.

'Hold it there. Raise your hands.'

Usually I didn't make mistakes of this magnitude, but I had royally screwed this up.

Shit.

 _ **So, we see out first glimpse of the church and the group }:). And we can all guess who the one who found her is. Chapter 3 coming shortly, so don't panic…**_


	3. Chapter 3

_**Right, this is where we start to see things pick up speed and we finally get to meet a few characters we all know and love…**_

-3-

Gah. Crap. Damn. Fuck. Shit. Gah.

I hadn't moved an inch for fear that any sudden movements would be the end of me. My mouth had run dry, making it fairly hard to swallow and my blood felt frozen as it circulated my veins. After seeing that I hadn't moved, I heard the guy's voice snap behind me.

'I said put your hands up!'

'Okay, okay…'

I did so haltingly, figuring out if I should do as he said, attack the guy, make a break for it or what. Liesel continued to snap at the hostile figure at my heels.

'Turn around. Slowly.'

I did so to see that it wasn't just one person behind me, it was three. I stared past the gun muzzle and silencer of the handgun that was pointed right between my eyes to see a ragged man with hair that was – unbelievably – greasier than mine, slicked back across his scalp and a rugged beard dominating his face. And he appeared to be VERY pissed off. There were two people behind him, a young African American woman on his left who was scowling at me and looked like she was just ITCHING to put a bullet in my head with the suppressed rifle she was carrying and another African American on his other side, a big guy wearing a hat and the friendliest expression out of the three. His face was a cross between wariness and kindness, and I figured that he might be the easiest to persuade not to shoot me. The man with the beard didn't lower his gun as he spoke again.

'Walk. NOW.'

He motioned with the tip of his gun that I should precede him and since I didn't know what the hell else to do that might make this situation any better, I decided to do just that. I kept my hands up as I backed around the church, Liesel strategically placing herself in between me and the three. My eyes flickered between the Collie and the group who slowly followed as I went around the side of the building.

Liesel was ready to launch herself at the trio and attack them judging from all the snapping she was doing. And if it had been different, I would have given the whistle. The thing was, if she pounced on them then the other two would probably shoot her if the person she jumped on didn't do so first out of reflex or something. And I needed Liesel alive. Not just to act as a bit of a barrier between me and these survivors – hey, it was amazing how even the most deranged psychos thought twice about touching you if there was an angry dog between you – but also she was the only friend I had left in this hell. I wasn't about to let that bond go so easily.

My mouth finally had some saliva back in it as I reached the other side of the church, and I swallowed as the man finally spoke again.

'Stop.'

I halted and whipped my hair back after several strands had fallen into my face. I squared my shoulders and took a deep breath, determined not to show these strangers how afraid I was on the inside. If they knew I was scared, they might try and prey on me more. I looked down to see that Liesel had taken a step forward, baring her teeth and standing fully upright to try and frighten the guy off. I saw him glance at her in the darkness and his hold on the gun shivered as he readjusted his grip.

'Call your dog back.'

'Why?'

I shot the question at him so fast that it didn't seem to sink in until three seconds later.

'What are you going to do to me?'

His gaze was unwavering.

'Check you for weapons.'

Now I truly had no idea what to do. I didn't want to be here. I didn't want them to take my stuff. I didn't want him and his cronies rifling through my things and deciding to pocket them. Only problem, if I didn't call Liesel back he would end up shooting me straight in the head IF Liesel didn't pounce on him and rip his flesh off first. Then they would shoot both her AND me. With much reluctance, I did as he asked.

'Liesel, come here. Come here lass!'

She gave the man one last good snap of her jaws before backing over to me, still growling but not as loud as she was before. Despite the fact that I had called her back, she could probably smell my fear and recognise that these people were not friends.

He caught my use of the world 'lass' and gave me a look that switched between confusion and understanding. After all, compared to his accent mine was painfully obvious as English. He must have figured I had some Scottish mixed in too before his face went carefully neutral again. He gave the gun he had trained on me to the woman who raised it straight at me again as soon as she had it. The man came over to me and I took an instinctive step back. I didn't want this man touching me. He sensed my guardedness since he paused for a millisecond before continuing, and started to frisk me firmly with the back of his hands. He quickly felt the knife and gun I had holstered in my waistband and took them, handing them to the big guy. He circled me like a vulture, and I heard him sliding my katana out of its sheath before coming back round, keeping his grip on the blade's handle. He motioned to me with his head.

'What's in the bag?'

It may seem stupid, yes, but when I'm scared or nervous or really tired I tend to get more sarcastic and the snappiness of my retorts comes through faster and thicker. And right now I was scared, nervous AND exhausted so this guy would probably get a bit of tongue-lashing before the night was through.

'Um, a frickin' three-course meal. What do you think?'

Even in the blackness I could see his eyes narrow at me in annoyance. We remained that way for a moment, the tension between us palpable.

'Take off the bag and put it on the ground.'

Shit. I fought to keep my eyes from widening in anxiety. The guy throws the bag around, it might blow up. If he opened it and picked something up and pressed the trigger accidently, it would blow up. If the guy was just generally an idiot, it would DEFINITELY blow up. There was no way in hell I should give the man my bag.

Like I had a choice though.

I sighed tiredly as I slid it off my shoulders, gently placing it on the ground before backing away a few steps. He stooped to pick it up and twizzled it in his hands. I couldn't stop myself from teasing him with a warning, my voice dangerously mirthful and a slight smirk twitching my lips.

'Careful with that.'

He gave me a look before handing the bag to the big guy who still carried my gun and knife. Then he strode over to me and grabbed my arm without warning, making my eyes widen for real this time and start to struggle against him both in instinct and fear, the blood draining from my already pale face. He started to drag me up the steps to the wooden doors I had seen through the window as I leant backwards and tried to pry his fingers off my arm with my other hand, swallowing gasps of fear and fright as I caught his stoic face tinged with fury in my panicked gaze. It was useless to struggle though: his grip was stronger than a vice. And even if I managed to get out of his bone-crushing hold, I had nowhere to go but to a big guy and a trigger-happy woman. At this point Liesel was snapping at the guy again, but was reluctant to attack him since I had not given the whistle. But I still couldn't do it. I wasn't going to let Liesel die for this.

I attempted to tug my arm closer to my body and winced as his fingers pressed into my skin painfully. I tried to fix my feet against the edges of the wooden steps but I couldn't get a strong enough brace before I slid up to the next one. At this point I was panting with the deadly mixture of effort, tiredness, terror and pain and I threw myself into one last full force effort to get away as he opened the church door and my vision was bathed in candlelight. I squinted and blinked a few times, and I could feel my eyes dilating as the irises shrunk to avoid my getting blinded. At this point I had nothing to do but get dragged down the aisle of the church to the altar, putting up as much resistance as I could which admittedly wasn't all that much now. The man pulled me roughly in front of him and finally let go, allowing me to rub my arm which was already starting to turn red with fingernail marks in my skin as I examined it. My eyes narrowed as anger flowed through me. Prick.

My guarded eyes lifted from my arm to notice the people I had seen through the window now staring at me with closed off faces. On the pretty brunette's face I caught a mild glimpse of astonishment before her walls went up and she regarded me with a cold stare that matched my own. The three who had hauled me up here were examining me now that they could see me clearly, the guy who went a bit AWOL with me a moment ago still gripping my katana and having a more hostile look to him than the other, and the African American woman looked like she was about to blow since her eyes were blazing with something I did NOT want to get aimed at me. My attention turned to the boy I had seen through the window to find that a myriad of looks seemed to be crossing his face all at the same time. There seemed to be worry, shock, anger, coldness and…for a fleeting moment I caught a look of happiness shift his features which I will confess confused me. All in all though, he was looking at me like he couldn't believe I was real.

There were others in the church that I had not seen before. Many stood in the shadows and I did not really care to look at them as my gaze turned to my left, and I saw the man in black I had seen through the window, who was regarding me somewhat kindly compared to the others, his brown eyes seeming warm and oddly innocent as he took in my dishevelled, becoming-skeletal appearance and most probably reading the weariness on my face and in my eyes. I noticed his priest's collar: this must be his church. Upon looking at him for a few moments I could tell that he stood apart from these other people. He did not look as dirty, as worn, as…DERANGED as some of these others. I attempted a friendly half smile at him but I could only manage to lift the corner of my mouth into a soft look before it fell and the woman reached us.

Liesel's claws pattered on the wooden floors as she came and stood loyally at my side. I vaguely registered some of them give the dog a look, including the boy, but it was drowned out as the priest turned to get on with whatever he had been doing and she spoke, causing my attention to fall solely on her.

'Stop.'

He looked at her. I remained silent.

'What are you doing?'

He paused, looking at her anxiously as he took several steps to the side towards me.

'What…are you doing?'

She gazed at him with anger blaring in her eyes, her voice dangerously low. My heart rate began to pick up and I got the feeling that a metaphorical bomb was about to explode in here.

'This is all connected. YOU show up. We're being watched…'

The man looked at the others for help, but they remained silent and watched him curiously. Now her attention fell on me and I stood perfectly still, shoulders back and spine straight in the most dignified stance I could muster and stared directly into her eyes. After all, I had to show that I wasn't one to be pushed around.

'…We catch YOU looking through the windows at us. And now three of us are gone.'

I didn't let a single thought reveal itself on my face. So, what, she thought that I had something to do with three people who disappeared? I had to work to keep control over myself. It seemed absolutely laughable, like she was grasping at straws. Maybe if she stopped and thought about it for ONE MOMENT then she would actually see sense! Why would I, a fifteen year old girl, kidnap three people? Hell, HOW would I kidnap three people?! With a booby trap from The Goonies?! It didn't take a genius to see that I was dangerously skinny, dehydrated and coming close to passing out from exhaustion. In this state, taking on ONE of ANY people would be suicidal never mind three. And suppose I did have a group, a whole gang of people who weren't as underfed and tired as I was, why would they even bother kidnapping three people? There would be no reason for it. And why would I even be here if they actually existed? Someone would've had my back or tried to get me out of Beardman's grasp. Once again I fought the urge to start laughing at her. Was she actually so dead-set on me being a bad guy that she hadn't stopped to consider that they might have just upped and taken off?

No. Of course she hadn't. She was perfectly content to let the blame lie with me and this other guy she was attacking who clearly had nothing to do with it either. But hey, we were easy targets. Well, I wasn't exactly gonna roll over and play dead for this woman.

The Father spoke in a nervous voice.

'I-I don't-I don't have anything to do with this.'

She turned to me now. Mentally I was trying to toughen my tired self up. I gave her the best look I could that read 'Come at me', waiting for the onslaught.

'And what about you? You arrive the night our people go missing. We catch you watching us. What have you got to do with this?'

You have got to be kidding me.

I raised my head a little and spoke in a calm, measured tone, my English accent easily filling the church and getting a few raised brows.

'I have nothing to do with missing people. And I'm going to guess that this man doesn't either.'

I gestured to the Father but kept eye contact with her, my blue eyes becoming increasingly icy.

'As for others watching you, I do not know of any others out there. I am alone.'

Okay, so I sort of lied on that last one. I knew there was someone else out there but I didn't know that they were watching the church, or more specifically the people inside the church. I figured that if I said I saw someone walking around but didn't really stop to consider it, it would sound shiftier than if I just said no to the stalking altogether.

Beardman stepped forwards, his threatening look clashing with my imposing one.

'But it was you who was watching us. Why?'

'To try and see if you were friendly or not.'

I rubbed my arm again and gave him an accusing look.

'Clearly it was the latter.'

My voice was dripping dangerously with smoothness by this point. Unbelievably my composure had not even cracked so far. I gave myself a mental pat on the back: I never knew I had it in me.

My miniature moment of triumph was stamped on when the woman drew her knife, causing Gabriel to flinch back in fear and for my eyes to widen as I leapt backwards, arms raised in surrender and all manner of cuss words running through my mind. Just how much of a shitstorm had I gotten myself into?!

The others reacted, finally, as a Hispanic woman launched herself forward but was held back by a fellow ginger, a beefy man with a handlebar moustache and the other African American who had discovered me spoke with a warning tone.

'Put it away!'

'Who's out there?'

She was now pointing her knife threateningly at the both of us, and I tried to get back that closed off air I had before, managing to retain it a shred where the knife woman was deteriorating faster into a frenzy. The poor Father backed into the barrier in front of the altar as she padded forwards menacingly and I stepped to the side, trying to keep out of the line of fire.

'I-I don't have anything to do-'

'Where are our people?'

'I don't have anything to do with this-'

'WHERE ARE OUR PEOPLE?!'

'Please, I don't have anything to do with this…'

She was pulled back and I let out a small breath of relief in case she decided to completely lose it and stab the priest. I felt a warmth brush against my leg as a tell-tale sign that Liesel had not moved from my side and I continued to watch the scene of the tragedy as Beardman moved forward into the knife woman's place.

'Why'd you bring us here?'

His face was a mixture of anxiety, confusion and terror, and I watched him with an equal measure of pity, though soon it gave way to anger again. Anyone could see that this man had NOTHING to do with these peoples' problems, yet he was getting the short end of the stick here. Bursts of compassion and protectiveness for him pierced my anger at the others. How DARE they come into HIS church and treat him like DIRT though they are the ones that brought their SHIT to HIS door.

Fuckers. The lot of them.

'P-Please, I-I-'

'Are you working with someone?'

I didn't know how much more of this interrogation I could take before I unleashed hell on them.

'I'm alone. I'm alone.'

He was clearly getting more and more frightened.

'I'm always alone.'

'What about the woman in the food bank Gabriel? What did you do to her?'

I was becoming tenser and tenser. And my gaze lowered the floor as I tried to keep it together. I felt eyes on me and I looked up to see the boy sitting in the pew was noticing my rigidity.

'"You'll burn for this"? That was for you. Why? What are you gonna burn for Gabriel?'

Without warning he shoved him back and gripped his shirt. I was desperate to intervene, but I didn't know if that would make things worse. I watched the scene continue to unfold before me like it was on a TV screen: I could not alter what was happening and yet I was too engrossed to turn it off.

'What?! What did you do?! WHAT DID YOU DO?!'

Beardman shoved him back before letting him go and taking a step back, his stance ready to attack the priest again. The Father was now gasping as his eyes shone with grief-filled tears.

'I lock the doors at night. I always lock the doors at night. I always lock the doors at night…'

He bent over as his face creased into a sob and my eyes fixed on him unblinkingly, captivated by the horror of this whole fiasco. He took hissing breaths through his teeth and regained his self-control, looking at Beardman as he started his story.

'They started coming, my congregation. Atlanta was bombed the night before and they were scared. They were…they were looking for a safe place, a place where they felt safe. And it was so early…it was so early, and the doors were still locked. You see…it was my choice. But there was so many of them. Men, they were trying to pry the shutters and banging on the sidings, screaming at me and so…the dead came for them. Women…children…Entire families calling my name as they were torn apart, begging me for mercy, begging me for mercy…'

Horrific. It was the only word that ran through my mind as I pictured his story, the screams of the dying outside the church echoing around my imagination and making me painfully aware of my heartbeat, thudding dully in my heavy chest.

'…Damning me to hell…'

The Father clutched his hands to his chest and his face twisted with silent tears of guilt and grief. My face, however, twisted into a compassionate frown and I gazed upon him sadly.

'I buried their bones. I buried it all. The lord sent you here to finally punish me. I'm damned. I was damned before…I always lock the doors, I always lock the doors…'

The tears he had held off for his explanation continued to slide down his cheeks and he sunk to the floor, sobbing in misery as the others silently watched on. It was pretty clear the guy was being eaten up by what he had done, or else he wouldn't be acting like this. And it didn't seem to me like he was putting on a show either. As I watched, I could only feel empathy with him. Yes, what he had done was unforgivable, and yet I couldn't find it within me to blame him for doing something so bad: I'd done some pretty bad stuff in my time too. I wasn't one to judge. But as I looked around at the others' faces, I could see that that was EXACTLY what they were doing, and my temper bubbled up inside me again as my face twisted into a hateful scowl. I bet that EVERY SINGLE PERSON in this room had done something terrible, apart the baby of course. Hell, I would bet my katana that every person in that room had killed someone. But they were judging the Father and most likely thinking about what a terrible person he was and how much he would be a liability in a group, but they almost-guaranteed had done bad things. They couldn't say or do anything to lessen their own guilt.

Thankfully, the crazy knife-lady had put away the blade and the big guy with the hat turned to walk down the aisle away from this party, but he stopped and continued to watch as Beardman seemed to realise that I was still there, and turned to me with a slightly insane look in his eyes. I inhaled deeply and prepared myself for battle.

'And what about you?'

Oh boy.

'And what about me?'

I crossed my arms but made sure to keep my shoulders squared as he stepped towards me. My eyes flickered behind him to his group and they were all staring unblinkingly at me, and I got the extreme feeling of being minutely small which I quickly sought to hide.

'Who are you? What have you got to do with this?'

'Absolutely nothing.'

Beardman raised his eyebrows and gave me a hostile and disbelieving look, continuing on with my interrogation.

'We caught you peering through the windows at us. How long have you been watching us?'

'I haven't been watching you. At least not for more than twenty seconds tops before you found me.'

But he wasn't done with me yet.

'What about you, are YOU working with someone?'

I supressed the urge to roll my eyes. Had this guy been paying attention to anything I had said before?

'No. I'm not. As I said before, I'm alone.'

The knife-lady had stepped forwards again, and I realised a millisecond before she spoke that I would now have to fight on two fronts instead of one.

'How many people are out there?'

I stared daggers at her as I exaggeratedly pronounced my words.

'I'm. Alone. How many times do I have to say?'

Beardman took up the questioning again as the woman looked like she wanted to shoot me for defending myself against her.

'Were you scouting for someone?'

This caused the entire group to try and pry the answer from my soul with their looks if their faces were anything to go by, but I could stand up for myself. I was always one of the ones who never cracked under pressure. So I stared right back, my look being more intense than any of the others as I mentally sent ice shards at them with my eyes.

'No. For the FOURTH TIME, I am alone.'

Clearly the guy wasn't getting the message though.

'What about Terminus? What do you know about that?'

Um…what? What were they talking about train stations for?!

I frowned at him slightly, the only outward show of any real emotion I had given this entire time.

'I don't know what that is.'

He narrowed his eyes at me a moment.

'I rather think you do.'

Damn, this guy wouldn't know the truth if it walked up and drop-kicked him.

'Well, I don't.'

He paused, saying nothing for a good long while. Maybe he realised I was tougher than he probably initially thought me to be. Now it looked like he was sizing me up, and my stubbornness made me stare right back at him, matching his gaze and not even blinking though I felt like I just wanted to lie on the floor and sleep forever.

Eventually a tense minute or two he just leaned forwards slightly and rasped out his question in an intimidating way.

'What's in the bag?'

I stood unbelievably still for a couple more seconds before I grated out my reply, my mind starting to numb itself to everything except sarcasm. Stupid, I know. And yet I didn't really care anymore.

'Already told you. Three-course meal.'

He looked at me like he wanted nothing more than to slap an honest answer out of me, but he turned anyway and walked over to where my red bag had been left on a pew with my weapons. I inhaled to try and keep calm as I saw him stop and just stare into the bag, causing the others around him to look at him concernedly.

'What?'

He didn't say anything. He just slowly reached in and drew out some of my explosives store: a land mine, a jump mine (which I had learned to make) and a pipe bomb (another one of mine).

I swallowed nervously as he turned them gently over in his hands. He knew what they were. I folded my hands behind me into what I hoped was a more military stance as all the eyes in the church turned to me. Another person, an Asian guy with a mop of black hair that had been silent previously, eyed me distrustfully and asked me about them.

'Why do you have all these?'

I blinked tiredly though my voice was thankfully steady and remained cold.

'Why do you have a gun? Figure it out.'

The knife-lady stalked forwards again, back on my case. I sighed quietly in irritation as her eyes blazed fire that was meant to scare me. Newsflash: it didn't.

'What were you planning on doing with these?'

The room was starting to become hazy and I was quickly losing the ability to speak due to my tiredness. All I could manage was a half-shrug. But perhaps that hadn't been the best decision, since it only seemed to make her angrier.

'Were you planning on blowing us up?!'

Jesus. Christ. I was starting to get a splitting headache from this, and I was honestly considering telling them to continue this tomorrow when I wasn't in danger of passing out and smacking my head on a pew. My patience and temper was running desperately low, and I didn't really care what they did to me anymore. Goodbye cold civility. Hello heated sarcasm.

'Why would I blow you up? I didn't even know there was a church here till a stumbled across this place a few hours ago!'

Literally stumbled too.

After putting down the explosives on the seat, the man stalked over to me and stood beside the woman, the rest all gathered around warily. Looks like the Beardman was back, and I was gonna guess in full force. Him and the woman took it in turns to attack me, and I prayed that I wouldn't slip up and condemn myself to death.

'Who gave these?! What for?!'

'No one gave me them. I found them.'

'Were you planning on rigging the church with these?!'

'No.'

'Were you gonna try and kill us?!'

'No.'

'What was your plan? To lay them around the ground outside?'

'No!'

'Rig them to the door?!'

'NO!'

Beardman had circled around me and was now back in front of me again, holding my gaze.

'Why are you here?!'

'You dragged me here, remember?!'

'Who are you?!'

'Nobody.'

'Who are you working with?!'

'No one!'

The others were starting to get more bristled towards me as I held out against the assault, some even laying a hand on their guns and knives. Not good. Not good at all. And I was reaching the end of my tether. I just couldn't deal with this shit anymore.

'Where are our people?!'

That was it. My patience had snapped, and I completely discarded my cool front and became a wild animal in front of their eyes, livid and out to kill. I was barely aware of Liesel growling at my heels, getting a few looks from some of the group.

'Lady, get this through your thick skull! I. Don't. Have. Your. People. Or would you like to turn out my pockets and see if they're there?!'

The big guy from before stepped forwards for the first time, looking a little pissed off at me.

'Watch your mouth!'

'Put a mussel on hers and I might!'

For Beardman, it seemed to be the last straw and he pulled out his handgun and pointed it straight at me. I was too exhausted, physically and psychologically, to give a damn if he shot me now.

'I'm gonna ask you one more time. Where are our people? WHERE ARE OUR PEOPLE?!'

Fuck this. It was clearly going nowhere but to hell. Oh wait, we're already here. I took a breath and tried to rethink my strategy past the haze in my head because if I just continued on with the dynamic duo in front of me I was gonna end up with a bullet in my brain before morning light. Instead I turned to the others, the ones who had been standing at the side like obedient dogs and I levelled my anger with them.

'Listen here, you American twats! If I wanted to be shot by a fucking loose cannon…'

I gestured at Beardman, who hadn't lowered the gun.

'…I would've thrown myself in front of the One O' Clock Gun at Edinburgh Castle. Now, if you'd get your heads out your arses and realise I have no bloody idea what you people are on about, you can give me my stuff back and I'll be on my way.'

The next bit I directed at Beardman and gave him a sarcastic smile, the last bit of my strength gone.

'If you'd be so kind.'

If he didn't get that I wasn't a pushover before, he certainly knew it now going by the look on his face. He was looking at me in shock and just a bit of anger, obviously not expecting me to use foul language or to stick up for myself so plainly. I crossed my arms as I willed myself to hold out just a little longer, just till I got outta here and then I could allow myself to collapse in a nervous wreck on the ground and probably cry myself to sleep.

Hey, wouldn't be the first time.

Liesel was still snapping at my heels, becoming loud and aggressive enough to cause Beardman to shift his gaze to her for a moment before it returned to me. I could feel my body start to shake from exhaustion, and through sheer willpower alone I managed to keep still lest the others should see it and mistake it for fear. I may be a ball of anxiety and terror on the inside, but it was what I showed on the outside that I was worried about.

Before the stare-off could continue any more a whistle emanated from outside causing me to snap my head over to the window with a slight frown, wondering what the hell that was and whether my fatigue-riddled mind had just invented it.

Seemed it hadn't though, since everyone else looked over to the back of the church and the Asian guy went over to the window on the left.

'There's something…there's someone outside lying in the grass!'

My sarcasm and anger ebbed away and it turned to worry as the knife lady started to breath audibly and took off to the doors, Beardman on her heels.

'Sasha…'

Hmm. Okay, knife-lady is called Sasha.

They surged out into the night, and even at the back of the church I could hear Sasha's worried cries. My curiosity driving me and the action giving me a little adrenaline boost, I strode to the doors with Liesel still by my side to see some of the group crouched over a dark figure lying in the grass and the others standing round.

'Bob! Bob!'

'His leg…'

'Get Bob inside! We'll take care of 'em…'

I watched from the steps of the church as several of the group took out the few snarling roamers that were loitering outside with the butts of their guns, but my attention turned back to Sasha as her panic-stricken voice cut through the night air, and I continued to watch silently.

'Can you help me?! Help me! Help me!'

Sasha and a different brunette from earlier sat up the motionless figure of Bob as the others continued to take out the roamers. The sound of gunshots made me almost jump out of my skin, and I heard Beardman shouting to the others as he let off rounds into the woods while the group hauled Bob into the church.

'Get inside! Go!'

I quickly moved out of the way of the group, heading down the aisle as I tried to get my jumbled thoughts together and I stood beside the priest who had recovered enough to be standing again and watching with wide eyes. My own eyes widened like his as I saw what had been done to Bob: whoever had taken him, whoever this group were clearly fighting, had left him with only one leg.

As everything seemed to calm down and the church doors were shut again. I stayed back but actually managed to forget my tiredness as I watched the group surround Bob, who was slowly coming to.

From this position I was able to see everything, and I crossed my arms over my torso as Bob gazed around at everyone, though his eyes settled on Sasha longer than the others. Brother maybe? No, no, probably more like partner…

'Bob, what happened?'

I snapped myself out of my judgements and listened to what he had to say carefully. After all, these people thought I was somehow mixed up in all this, so I needed to find out exactly what THIS was.

'I was in the graveyard, somebody knocked me out…'

He lifted himself up with his elbows, the effort causing him to take a few breaths before he continued.

'I woke up outside this place. It looked like a…a school. It was that guy, Gareth…'

The way he said his name sounded like poison.

'…And five other ones. They were eating my leg right in front of me, like it was nothin'!'

I blanched a little at that. I thought I'd met every type of bad guy, but obviously not. Now I had 'cannibals' to add to the list. He was almost crying with the strain of it, and most probably the pain too. Hell if it was me and they ate MY leg I would be full-on hysterical.

'All proud, like they had it all figured out…'

Beardman leant forward, and his voice took on a softer note than I had ever heard it before.

'Did they have Daryl and Carol?'

Bob's breathing was shallow as he answered.

'Gareth said they drove off…'

Well, what do you know? I was right after all. I figured they might have just upped and left, and lo…

You know, this was all I would've needed. A calm explanation of the situation like Bob had just given, and I would have totally understood. Hell, I probably would've stuck around to try and help out these guys to defeat the cannibal psychos or whatever. Now I could understand why the group were so on-edge and worried, but it still didn't excuse the fact that I got dragged in here and accused of working with the cannibal freaks outside. Just because I understood them a bit more now didn't mean I particularly LIKED any of them.

The group all shared looks at that as Bob moaned in pain, causing the group to try to steady him gently. I had remained silent all the way through his explanation, and so it caught my attention that there was a brushing warmth again my leg and I looked down to see that Liesel had trotted forward slowly to the group and as she passed the kid and Beardman, the group noticed her and gave her cautious looks. However, they changed into soft surprise as Liesel licked Bob's cheek and whined pitifully as she lay down, resting her head on his remaining leg. Bob looked down at the Collie in confusion, clearly wondering where she had come from, but he still petted her head before his eyes lifted and settled on me, still standing back and watching despondently. I probably looked less like I was made of stone and ice than I had before, or at least had tried to give the impression of. He blinked a few times before he eyed me up and down and spoke to me.

'Who are you?'

Several of the group looked at me though I continued to look at Bob. I gave him a soft but sad smile as I answered gently.

'I'm nobody.'

He gave me a painful grin at that, though it was tired, and his voice was laced with mischief.

'You're a very pretty nobody.'

I blinked a few times and lowered my eyes as the light dusting of a blush crept up my face from my chest. The others looked at me a moment before turning back to Bob. He looked down at the Collie who was still resting on his leg.

'And who's this?'

My eyes flickered to her.

'Liesel.'

Bob gave a smile at that, a real smile, and I will admit that the sight of it had me feeling instantly better. Smiles were something that were hard to find these days, so seeing it made me feel like I had discovered long-lost treasure. However, it didn't last as he groaned in pain again and Sasha lovingly held him up, turning to the others.

'He's in pain. Do we have anything?'

The Hispanic woman answered.

'I think there are pill packets in the first aid kit.'

Sasha nodded at her, but Bob protested.

'Save 'em!'

Sasha looked at him.

'No!'

'Really!'

They looked at each other a moment before Bob pulled himself up a little more, having just enough strength left to sit up on his own and pull down the collar of his shirt to reveal a nasty roamer bite on his shoulder. My face fell and emotions swirled around me; sadness that another person was going to die because of those fuckers, grief because I knew nothing could be done to help him…guilt that I would be the one to live from a bite and he wouldn't, though generally speaking he had a hell of a lot more to live for than I did…

Sasha's face was unreadable as she looked at it, though it gradually became a look of despair and the two gazed at each other in pain.

'It happened at the food bank.'

Sasha stayed stock still a moment longer before miserably attempting a smile and whispered to him as he whined in pain again.

'It's okay…'

The group's faces matched my own as he let out a few more breaths and fell heavily onto the floor again. Sasha held him gently as her face contorted with concern.

'Bob?'

I heard footsteps behind me on the wooden floors and a shadow appeared in my peripheral vision, and I gazed at the priest out of the corner of my eye as he moved forward to stand beside me.

'There's a sofa in my office.'

Sasha turned to the priest, but looked at the both of us, grief written on her features as she seemed to realise that we truly had nothing to do with this after all.

'I know it's not much but…'

'Thank you.'

'I got him.'

The big guy moved forwards to lift Bob into the office, and the rest of the group stood and moved back to allow him room. Beardman wasted no time, coming towards us but spoke only to Gabriel, me just happening to listen in.

'Do you know the place Bob was talking about?'

The priest nodded.

'It's an elementary school. It's close.'

'How close?'

There was a pregnant pause between the two and I just prayed that we didn't revert to the whole standoff issue we had had before Bob got here.

'How close Gabriel?'

'It's just a ten-minute walk from here, due south of the graveyard.'

Before anything more could be said, crying rang out through the church and I looked over to see the kid lift the basket, which I vaguely remembered held the baby, and he shushed her as he carried her into a different room. Beardman walked off, and I tried to let the events of the last few hours catch up with my pretty much dead brain.

This group were fighting another group, a group of cannibals, who were outside RIGHT NOW and who had eaten one of their member's legs. The priest had probably offered them sanctuary, though I doubt that that age-old law would protect them somehow. They obviously had a history, which I'm guessing what that question about a terminus was earlier. And now things were shaping up into what would be one hell of a gunfight, most likely a last-man-standing situation.

This was one HELL of a snafu.

I faded back in when the ginger moustache guy spoke to Beardman.

'Time for a reality check. We all need to leave for DC right now.'

What was so special about DC?

'Daryl and Carol are gonna be back.'

The others had all turned to look at him, and I held in a snort at Beardman's line. Um, they left. They just drove off, obviously without a word to anyone since the group thought they had been taken along with Bob. They probably weren't coming back, especially if they were treated the way I had been tonight.

'We're not going anywhere without 'em.'

'I respect that, but there's a clear threat here to Eugene and I need to extract his ass before things get any uglier. So if y'all won't come, good luck to ya. We'll go our separate ways.'

And with that the man, who I figured was an army guy from the way he spoke just now, turned on his heel and headed off to the church doors, but stopped when Beardman spoke out again.

'You leaving on foot?'

'We fixed that damn bus ourselves.'

Beardman padded forward, and part of me wondered for a moment if this guy didn't just go looking for fights.

'There are a lot more of us.'

'You wanna keep it that way? You should come.'

'Carol saved your life. We saved your life!'

'Now I am tryna save yours! Save everyone's!'

'We're not goin' anywhere without our people.'

'Your people took off!'

'They're comin' back!'

'TO WHAT?! PICKED OVER BONES?!'

At that point the argument got physical and the Asian guy jumped in to break it up lest it should get too ugly. I just stood watching from the back next to the brunette woman, getting real sick of this shit already.

'Hey, hey, stop! Now!'

He pushed them away from each other, staring down the both of them. Then he turned to the army guy.

'Do you really think that you're gonna be any safer leaving right now?! In the middle of the night?!'

'Yeah.'

The air sat heavily before he nodded.

'Yeah.'

He turned back to the doors.

'What about tomorrow? We need each other for this. We need each other to get to DC. We can get through all of it together!'

'I have an idea.'

Another brunette woman spoke up, walking forward.

'If you stay just one more day and help, I'll go with you to DC no matter what.'

She turned to Beardman.

'Okay?'

I looked between everyone and considered just curling up on one of the pews and sleeping through this whole thing.

'Glenn and Maggie too.'

'No.'

'Good luck then. I'm not interested in breaking up what you have here. Rosita, grab your gear.'

'Abraham…'

'NOW. Eugene let's go.'

The guy sitting in the pew didn't move.

'Eugene. Move it.'

'I don't want to…'

'NOW.'

Abraham growled at him, and Eugene reluctantly moved to do what he said. The three started to walk towards the doors when Beardman spoke again.

'You're not taking the bus.'

Abraham and the others stopped, and his voice was more wearied than before.

'Try and stop me.'

At that Beardman started to walk over to him, though the Asian guy, Glenn I would guess, stood between them again.

'Wait, wait, wait, hey!'

He turned to Abraham.

'You stay. You stay and help us, and we will go with you.'

'No!'

'It's not your call.'

Glenn stared him down before turning back to Abraham.

'You stay. Help us.'

Abraham though over it a moment.

'Half a day. Come high noon, we're taillights. I'm not waiting for the other damn shoe to drop.'

'Then we will leave with you.'

The woman who I guessed was Maggie spoke from beside me, and I looked at her a moment.

'Twelve hours. Then we go.'

The conversation was over, as Abraham took his gun and walked back into the church, the others starting to disband to do whatever it was they did and I turned to Maggie.

'Is it always like this?'

I looked at her intently and she turned to me, appearing slightly surprised like she forgot I was there and standing next to her for the whole thing. She appeared to struggle with finding the right words, like she was a little unsure what to say. As a few more moments of silence passed between us I gave up on her answer and sighed, rolling my eyes as I went and plopped myself down on a pew. I drew my knees up to my chest and gently lowered my head to rest on my knees as I wrapped my arms around my head like a protective barrier from the outside world. I found the darkness comforting as I paid attention only to my breathing, my lids closing as the need for sleep grew uncontrollable.

As the darkness began to invade my mind in blissful sleep, I felt a cold nose nuzzle my arm and I managed to crack a half-smile, absentmindedly petting Liesel as I wondered…

…just what the HELL I had gotten myself into?!


	4. Chapter 4

_**Chapter 4. Definitely had fun writing this one since this is the first real interaction that Katrina gets with some of the characters when they're NOT in a standoff. Anyway, here we go…**_

-4-

I must have fallen asleep for some period of time since I was brought back out of my blank stupor of thoughtlessness by someone shaking my arm, accompanied by a soft 'hey'.

I was still in my hunched position on the pew, and I gingerly raised my head with my red locks tumbling about my face to see the priest sat on the pew beside me, but not too close as Liesel was curled into my legs.

'Hey, are you okay?'

Was I okay. I honestly didn't know how to answer that one as everything came rushing back to me so fast that my head was almost knocked back by it. I wasn't okay with the fact that I was now caught up in the middle of a war that I wanted no part of, and I wasn't okay that I would probably facing down a bunch of cannibals in the next 24 hours. I wasn't even okay with the fact that I was bitten since when Bob flickered through my mind a moment the guilt resurfaced and my bite started to itch like crazy, and I couldn't do anything or else I could pull the scabs off and open the wound again.

But I guess it could be worse.

I gave him a tired smile and nod, which seemed to alleviate some nervousness he had. As we sat in silence a moment longer I regarded him carefully, trying to read him sort of like Sherlock Holmes would. He was wearing his priest's collar still. It was his church because of this. He looked cleaner than the others and his suit was not as ragged as the clothes of the other people here. So he was not part of this group, or he had joined so recently that he hadn't travelled with them outside of the church or nearby runs. His eyes were not as tired and he still wasn't majorly skinny like I probably was. Therefore he got enough sleep and enough food, probably because this church was a good base and near a food supply. A flash of Beardman mentioning a food bank entered my mind, though I was having trouble remembering some of the things from earlier tonight, though I remembered my interrogation, Bob and the fight that Beardman had had with the army guy…what was his name again?...Abraham? Abraham.

Giving the priest another once over, I recalled his story of his congregation but it settled next to the fact that this man seemed truly remorseful for what he had done, the pain of it lingering permanently in his eyes as I saw when his met mine for a fleeting moment. I recalled from earlier that the reason he had done it was not out of sadistic need but out of fear and helplessness. Well, he was better than most other people I had met, this group included. Because of that, I managed to give him a ghost of a smile and I extended a hand for him to shake.

'I'm Katrina.'

As I said this, I angrily mentally noted that neither Beardman, nor Sasha, or Maggie or Glenn or ANYONE ELSE had actually bothered to find out my name before they started interrogating me and blaming me for all their problems. God, I was surrounded by arseholes.

The priest smiled at me as he shook my hand gently.

'I'm Gabriel Stokes.'

Before anything else could be said, Liesel stood from her place by my legs and broke the handshake by shoving her head in the way, inaudibly whining as she looked at me with big brown eyes that clearly said 'pet me'. I managed to let out a whisper of laugh at that, forever thankful that I had found her and I had taken her with me. I scratched behind her ear and in return she leant into my touch, creeping forwards till her head was pressed against my chest. I smiled down at her a moment before lifting my gaze to meet Gabriel, who was merely watching our interaction with a small smile.

'Feel free to pet her.'

He looked up from Liesel to me, looking a little nervous. Huh, he must not have experience with animals. I tried to alleviate any fears he may have about me or Liesel. On the whole, I liked him the most out of everyone in this group.

'She won't bite unless I tell her to.'

He blinked a few times before cautiously reaching out a hand to pet her cautiously. He relaxed a little more when Liesel didn't turn around chew his fingers off, and he gained confidence as he continued to stroke her from her neck down her back. He was about to pull his hand away when Liesel turned and licked his fingers, causing him to give a gasp of surprise and of laughter at the ticklish feeling of her tongue.

'She likes you.'

His hand settled in his lap as he smiled again and I continued to scratch her ears.

'She's a wonderful dog.'

I gave an absent smile.

'Yeah, she is.'

I looked up at him again and gave each other slight smiles, a new sort-of camaraderie between us. We sat quietly for a moment longer before I asked him a question that had been burning in my mind for a few minutes.

'So how did you end up with these people?'

Liesel lay by my legs and I crossed my arms over my legs as Gabriel answered.

'I ventured from my church and became surrounded by the dead. I called for help and they came. They saved me.'

I raised my eyebrows disbelievingly and cast a quickly glace at the people further in the church.

'Seriously? These people don't seem like the type to save others.'

The kid had come back out with the baby, who had since stopped crying, and there were several groups of people talking in hushed tones.

'There's more than meets the eye to most. These people may only seem bad, but there is a chance there's good underneath.'

I looked back at him for that remark, and I felt a new respect for him fill me. He had lived just as long as I had in this hellhole apocalypse and yet had, like I had tried to do, kept some sense of civility and courtesy about him that led him to defend these people though from what I had seen they were violent, deranged and losing their humanity, some more quickly than others. But perhaps he was right. I allowed myself to consider for a moment whether I was being a little too judgemental and they just gave REALLY bad first impressions. After all, some crazy cannibals were out for their blood.

Or should I say meat.

'So where are you from?'

I looked at him and smiled again, my eyes drifting over the Atlantic and my voice becoming softer as I spoke of home.

'I'm from England mainly, though my father was Scottish so I spent my summers in Edinburgh.'

'Was it nice there?'

I gave a ghost of a chuckle and raised a cocky brow.

'Compared to here?'

He caught my mirthful tone and smiled a little wider. I looked down at my hands and sighed in remembrance.

'It was like heaven.'

We sat in comfortable silence before my smile and memories faded and I gazed worriedly back at the people. None of them were close enough to hear, thankfully.

'They won't let me leave, will they?'

Gabriel bit his lip and shared my look for a moment. I think he was like me, wondering whether we were imprisoned in the church that they had commandeered from him.

My next question sounded pitiful, but I couldn't stop myself from asking it.

'What will they do to me?'

He shook his head, unable to answer my anxious question. I sighed tensely, and brooded over my fate. Just then several members came out of the back rooms and gathered in a huddle, whispering like conspirators and making me inexorably nervous. I managed to catch several words, enough so I could figure out they were going over a battle plan to take down the cannibals stalking them outside. I didn't even bother to listen in, since right now I didn't really give flying fuck if any of them lived or not, with the exception of Gabriel and the baby that the kid was looking after. Speaking of Gabriel, he was still sat next to me and I could feel the worry coming from him grow more palpable as he heard snippets of the conversation too. What we both really needed right now was a distraction, and so I turned to him again.

'Hey, who are these people? Like, what are their names?'

If I was going to be here for a while, which was the way it was shaping out to be, I might as well know who they were. Gabriel's face cleared of worry enough to leave me satisfied.

'Well the, uh, leader, the man with the beard is Rick and the woman with the dreadlocks is Michonne. Then the Asian man is Glenn and Maggie is his wife, while the other brunette woman is Tara. The army man is Abraham, the woman with him is Rosita and the man with the mullet is Eugene. Bob is the man who…'

He trailed off for a moment as he recalled what had become of Bob and I did too, trying desperately not to think about it. This was meant to be a distraction after all. I steered him back on course.

'Who else is there? Who was the big guy wearing a hat?'

'Oh, that is Tyreese, and his sister is Sasha. And then the two who left were Daryl and Carol.'

I knew most of the names already, but know I knew the others and I was reminded of some that I hadn't fully processed when I was on the verge of passing out. As he said the names I picked out who he meant, so I had names to go with faces. I gave Gabriel a quick smile of thanks which he returned before getting up and going off to do something. I turned to Liesel who was dozing next to me and gently stroked her as I listened in as much as I could. It seemed that while I had been talking with Gabriel I had missed some super serious discussion about what to do. I vaguely heard Abraham as I leant my head on the hard edge of the pew.

'Plan's got stones, I'll give it that…'

I faded out again as they continued to figure out what they should do in favour of figuring out what I should do. I had considered finding a group and surviving together, but this isn't exactly what I had in mind. Hell, would they even want me in their group? They all thought I was a cannibal-sympathiser when I was technically on their side and yes, I was pretty standoffish with these people but it was their own fault. From the first moment they found me they dragged me about, interrogated me and treated me like chattel when I had done absolutely NOTHING wrong and now they were just full-on ignoring me. Well I wasn't their toy, and they would have to get that point real fast. And as I sat simmering in my anger and irritation at them, a thought crossed my mind that made my throat close up and the hand that was petting Liesel still. I was thinking about my choices like I actually had a choice. What if I didn't? What if they wouldn't let me leave? Well then I would run away. No one could make me do something I didn't want to do. I was just too stubborn and as I was sure the group had figured out already, I did not crack under pressure. I would use that to my advantage and take off.

I was brought out of my musings when I realised that the church had gone quiet. Deathly quiet. I frowned for a moment before I head footsteps on the wooden floor stop in front of the pew I was sitting on and I slowly raised my head and eyes to see the leader, Rick, staring down at me. I took a steadying breath in as I got a sense of deja-vu and hoped that we wouldn't end up going at it again like before. I may have done it once, was I was in no mood for a rerun.

I looked back down at Liesel, who was watching Rick unblinkingly and his harsh voice rasped out across the silence.

'You wanna gain our trust? Earn your keep?'

My frown deepened and I looked back up at Rick. He was giving me an opening to join his group? I was pretty sure the man hated my guts! Along with most of the rest of his group! Why?!

I pushed my thoughts of them being bipolar aside as I waited for him to continue.

'Then prove you aren't one of 'em.'

He gestured with his eyes to the door and I bit back a growl of frustration. It seemed that with my many, many, MANY repetitions of telling them I had nothing to do with the cannibals, they hadn't got the message. But I tried not to lash out – that much – as I answered him in an icy tone.

'I thought I made that astoundingly clear.'

'Enough of the backchat!'

His voice grated against my ears as he shouted but instead of making me scared it made me want to roll my eyes. I opened my mouth to retort but then I realised he was the one who held the gun, not me, and I was already skating on thin ice here. So I mentally bit my tongue and closed my mouth, but an annoyed sigh escaped my nose that let him know I really didn't appreciate his tone. He seemed to get this message at least since when he spoke again it had returned to normal.

'Are you with us or not?'

I felt like I was being offered two doors that both led to certain death. I bit my lip as I weighed it over. Should I? Should I not?

I had conditions.

'Will I be allowed to leave if I want to? With my stuff?'

Rick wasn't expecting that answer, and as he hesitated I began to raise my brow. Just as I was on the verge of declaring that he was full of shit he nodded, though I wasn't convinced. You don't hesitate like that if you intend to follow through with your promises.

'Am I allowed to leave now, and get out of the crossfire before this goes down?'

He didn't even hesitate with this one as he shook his head. I sighed. I wasn't allowed to leave. I had no choice.

'Then I'm with you. For now.'

I met his gaze at the last bit. He seemed to freeze a moment as I stared at him intensely. You know, I get the impression that he hadn't really met a girl like me before. I internally smirked in amusement. This should prove fun.

He nodded in acceptance before going off again and I let my ice walls melt a little bit as I was no longer on the defensive. Hell, if it was going to be like this all the time, having to be guarded and closed whenever I spoke to one of them, then I don't want to stay here. I bit back a yawn of exhaustion as my power nap effects subsided and I was considering curling up again for another when I saw something that truly made my blood boil like nothing else. My Tactical was given to one of the brunette women, who I thought was Maggie for a moment before realising it was Tara instead. My katana was offered to the dreadlocks woman Michonne, though to my slight surprise she turned it down and it was instead left on the altar. My butterfly knife was passed around and eventually given to the kid by Rick, whose name I hadn't learnt yet. And then I'm sure steam started to come out of my ears as my mines and bombs were taken out of my pack and were mulled over by the group. Glenn and Abraham picked up some of them and turned them over in their hands, and it incensed me that it seemed these idiots didn't have the first clue as how to handle explosives properly.

'A hint.'

Most of the group looked over at me and I looked at Glenn and Abraham, absolutely livid that they thought they had a right to loot my stuff when I was sat 15 feet from them.

'If you don't know how to handle explosives, then you really shouldn't be touching them.'

'Thanks missy, but I think we know how to use landmines.'

Just as Abraham said that, Glenn turned one of the metal balls, a jump mine, over in his hands and I sharply inhaled in anticipation as his fingers stopped over the trigger that would take off everyone's heads who were standing at the altar. The group seemed to hear my gasp too, and probably saw my wide eyed expression that didn't falter as I stared at Glenn in apprehension. Glenn looked at me before gently putting down the bomb, and only when his fingers moved did I release a sigh of relief. Then it quickly gave way to fury again as I saw my gun peeking out from Tara's waistband and the kid flicking the knife open and closed again. Those were MY weapons. They had NO RIGHT to take them. And they almost blew themselves up, the total fucking morons that they were. My opinion of this group hit an all-time low, and I stood from the pew and walked down the aisle.

'Can I at least have my katana back?'

They all shared looks with each other as I stared them down, but it was Rick who answered.

'You can have it back when you've earned it.'

Any other situation and I would've flown across the room and pummelled him in the face. This man had NO IDEA what earning something was. Earning your keep. Earning your life.

Earning someone's trust.

'Oh no, I've done more than enough to earn it.'

He looked at me again, and I think he got the silent threat that went into those words. If he didn't change his tune he and I would always butt heads, him for being a nasty and inconsiderate arsehole and me for pulling him up on being one. But he didn't rise to the challenge of arguing with me and instead just went off to prepare. I looked back at the others to find they were once again ignoring me and I turned on my heel to sink back down on the pew in a huff. That was it. As soon as this was all over, I was packing up and leaving. Everyone here was a twat, a douchebag or a full-blown fucker. Except for Gabriel, and I had half a mind to take the baby along for good measure.

I sat there for God knows how long, stewing in my anger and resentment until I noticed people shuffling into the office on the left, the room where Bob was resting I think. I watched as people went in; Rosita, who carried a shotgun under her arm, along with mullet man Eugene and big guy Tyreese. I heard footsteps again and I turned to see Rick looking at me authoritatively. I turned to fully face him and watched him with wary eyes.

'Go in there with them.'

I paused for a second before slowly moving to do as he said, albeit my movements were stiff as I was NOT used to being bossed around after all this time. Liesel trotted along obediently at my side as I slipped in and averted my gaze from a dying Bob as the clawings of guilt grabbed at my insides again. I took a seat on the floor near to Gabriel and leant back against the wall, my hands resting on my legs that were laid straight which Liesel had very happily decided to lie across. A flicker of a smile hovered over my lips before I sighed through my nose and thought about an escape plan.

I really was NOT happy. I was tired of being treated like a prisoner, blamed and ignored and stolen from merely for trying to find a safe place to stay. I had had ENOUGH of this. So I was going to leave, and call me crazy but I didn't trust Rick to keep his word. It had to be soon too: I would need to check my bite and try to figure out what to do about the itching. Maybe find some meds or something? And my bite posed another problem if I were to remain here. What would they do to me if they discovered my bite? They wouldn't believe that it had been 11 days and would probably just kill me or worse. No, I was not going down that route.

As other people settled on the floor in the office, I mapped out my relatively simple plan in y head: I would tip out in the middle of the night when everyone was sleeping, or just too tired to care, after grabbing my gear somehow and then Liesel and I could just disappear into the night like we were never at the church at all. The problem would be avoiding waking people up and being caught. Call me crazy, but I didn't think they would react too well to me slinking off into the woods with no intention of coming back. And they would probably just use it as an excuse to finally shoot me after all this time. I bit my lip as I pondered a bit more, and then another thought struck my mind. Should I take Gabriel with me? I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye to see him holding rosary beads and muttering under his breath. It was clear that he was like me: a still halfway-decent person being kept here against his free will. I mean, it didn't take a genius to realise that these people were trespassers in his church. But then a little doubt clawed at my mind. It was HIS church; he wasn't going to leave it all that willingly, especially with these people here. I let out a sigh and quickly massaged to top on my neck with my fingertips. God I was so tired.

But as they shut the door and the kid locked it, my fatigue went away and I sat alert. I tapped my fingers together silently, waiting for the showdown to begin with a heartbeat I could feel vibrating around my chest and echoing in my ears as I took a deep breath. Time seemed to stop for a moment and as I glanced up at the door to the right, my eyes caught on the kid whose name I realised I STILL hadn't learned. And he was looking at me. My face went cold and hard as I drew my walls up around myself, refusing to let anyone in, but I didn't break the eye contact in a challenge, almost daring him to keep looking at me.

To be honest I hadn't really paid much attention to the kid since I was first dragged into the church, and nor he me it would seem, but now he was watching me carefully in the dark, though his face was still tilted towards the baby so one could easily mistake him for not watching me at all. I knew better though. Why was he looking at me? Was he worried I would betray them? I snorted internally. No chance. I wasn't in the mood to get eaten.

We broke eye contact when I looked away and at the door in apprehension, my straining ears picking up the subtle click of shoes on the wooden steps leading to the doors. Then when someone broke the handle off and swung the door open with a creak that sounded almost like a scream in this unearthly silence, I knew that this was it. The kid turned from me and raised his Berretta, positioning himself in front of the door and also in front of the baby while Gabriel grabbed his rosary and started to pray.

Then a man's voice rang out through the dark church.

'Well, I guess you know we're here, and we know you're here. And we're armed so there's really no point in hiding anymore.'

His voice was smooth, but there was a hint of maliciousness layered underneath it. Chocolate laced with arsenic.

'We've been watching you. We know who's here.'

A flash of the shadow outside the church in the night flew across my mind as I sat unmoving.

'There's Bob, unless you put him out his misery already. And Eugene, Rosita, Martin's good friend Tyreese, Carl, Judith. Rick and the rest walked out with a lot of your guns.'

The fact that he knew everyone's names kind of creeped me out a bit. It felt like he was reading off a hit list.

There were creaks from the floorboards as the cannibals came further up the church, getting closer to the door.

'Listen, we don't know where you all are, but this isn't a big place. Let's just stop this now before things get more painful than they need to be.'

No one made a sound. Not even Liesel, who was standing by me like she was carved of black and white stone. We all knew that one slip would mean game over. I managed to sit up even straighter – if that was possible – as the door handle rattled as they tried to get in. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Rosita raise a shotgun at the door, but she lowered it slightly as it stopped.

'Look, you're behind one of these two doors and we have more than enough firepower to take down both! I can't imagine that's what y'all want.'

The menacing sound of a shotgun being pumped filled the church and I glowered at the door before looking down at the floor. These twats didn't scare me.

'How about the priest, or the girl with the dog?'

That last comment made my head snap up. Had they been watching me too?

'Both of you, you help us wrap this up and we'll let you walk away from this. After all, we're not here for you.'

There was a twisted part of me deep inside that wanted to shout out that we were in here and let them bust the doors down just so they could get some sweet sense of revenge for the way they've treated me since I arrived here, but the rest of me told me not to. They would most likely kill me too.

'Just open the door and you can go. You can take the baby with you. What do you say?'

Out of the corner of my eye I looked at the priest, and I couldn't tell if he was considering the offer or not. I managed to catch his eye and very gently shook my head, telling him not to just in case. He looked back at the floor and I looked over at the door again, but not before seeing the kid shoot me a side glance. Eesh, if I was going to betray these people I would've done it by now.

Suddenly wails echoed out across the church and I closed my eyes with curses. Shit. The baby had given us away. As the kid went to calm the baby, I heard the sound of feet stopping outside of the locked door, taking positions and the man's voice rang out again.

'It's your last chance right now to tell us you're coming out.'

After a moment of deliberation I got slowly to my feet and went to stand beside the kid who now was aiming at the door again. His gaze kept shifting from the door to me and he froze in shock as I started to silently frisk his back until I found what I was looking for. I pulled my butterfly knife out of his waistband and was so focused on opening it silently that I didn't see his expression - which was probably for the best.

I raised it into an attack stance but before I could do anything more I heard the sound of bodies dropping on the others side of the door, which made me pause and hear my heartbeat in my ears once again. What had just happened?

'Put your guns on the floor.'

It seemed that Rick and the others had returned, effectively pinning the cannibals into the church. And now I figured that this was the plan all along instead of a massive stroke of luck. Well, they may be arseholes but at least SOME of them weren't stupid.

'Rick, we will fire right into that office so you put your gun down…'

I then heard screaming from the man who had been talking. I guess Rick didn't take that too well. I heard his voice rasp out again.

'Put your guns on the floor and kneel.'

I lowered the knife out of my stance and moved closer to the door to hear better, just in case the tables turned again. We'd need all the seconds we could get if it did. I stood by the door and focused just on hearing, an action that made my vision fade out.

'Do what he says! Martin there's no choice here!'

I heard people moving, the cannibals kneeling, when I heard another man's voice.

'Yeah there is.'

'Wanna bet?'

That was Abraham's voice. There was a pregnant pause while the floorboards creaked as people moved around. The kid came over and I recalled with a little embarrassment how I had pretty much just felt him up a minute ago to get my knife back, and I hoped it was dark enough in here so he couldn't see my flushed face. His gun was lowered as he stood next to me, reaching for my hand that held the open knife. Just as I was about to pull away he took the knife off me, shutting it and walking away again and I cringed internally. That obviously didn't get me on his good side.

'No point in begging, right?'

The guy's voice brought me out of my little stupor, and I tried to push it to the back of my mind.

'No.'

'Still, you could've killed us when you came in. There had to be a reason for that.'

'We didn't want to waste the bullets.'

That caught me off guard and I felt the hair on my arms rise in both anticipation and – for the first time – fear.

The guy's voice became shakier.

'We used to help people. We SAVED people. Things changed. They came in…'

He let out a groan in pain from wherever Rick had probably shot him.

'And after that…I know that you've been out there but I can see it: you don't know what it is to be HUNGRY.'

My stomach churned at that, though I must admit a part of me felt such pity for these people. Funnily enough, I believed them. When they said they helped people. And then someone obviously came in and…thinking on that train of thought took me back down my own dark winding road and I blinked to bring myself out of it. Now was NOT the time.

'You don't have to do this. We can walk away, and we will NEVER cross paths again. I promise you.'

'But you'll cross someone's path. You'd do this to anyone, right?'

Gooseflesh spread from my arms up my back and curled around my bite. I had a feeling I was about to witness something I would not forget anytime soon.

'Besides, I already made you a promise.'

And then there were screams as Rick and his group murdered to people on the other side of the door. As for me, I was frozen just beyond, partly wanting to see the carnage and partly wanting to cover my ears to block out the sound of death. Instead I just stayed perfectly still, half transfixed and half horrified. And then Tyreese came past me and unlocked the door, and I peered past him to see Sasha and Rick and Abraham beating the cannibals to death, though some were still alive, making their death drawn out and excruciating. Sasha was repeatedly stabbing a man in the neck while Rick hacked at a guy with a machete. I didn't even bother trying to mask my expression. I was absolutely disturbed by what I was witnessing, and these images weren't going to go away. Ever.

Eventually the massacre stopped and silence once again filled the church, broken only by the sound of heavy breathing. Tyreese went back into the office to Bob's side, but I just couldn't move. And it seemed that no one else could either. They all just stood there in some kind of haze, until my gaze was drawn to Michonne as she knelt down and slowly drew out a katana from the pack of the woman she just brutally killed.

'It could've been us.'

And as I slowly stepped out and gazed at the pooling blood on the wooden floor, part of me really thought that it SHOULD have been. The others didn't acknowledge him, the attempt at justification flying by. Even I had to admit it was a weak one. Gabriel stepped out behind me, viewing the scene with as much horror as I was. Sasha weakly spoke to the air as Rick sheathed his machete.

'Yeah.'

Rick, Sasha and Abraham walked past us without even glancing at us, both Gabriel and I still too shocked at the bloodbath that had just happened. I looked up to see Glenn and Maggie unmoving, looking at the bodies with stoic faces. And I just couldn't stop myself from commenting.

'So, they ate people and you…butcher people. In a church no less. It seems we'll all be shaking hands in Hell then.'

Glenn and Maggie looked at me and blinked, but remained silent. And I realised that the gooseflesh on my arms or back hadn't calmed, though the danger was over. Though at that point I couldn't understand why.

'This is the Lord's house.'

'No. It's just four walls and a roof.'

I looked at Maggie for that last remark, and then it struck me why I was still afraid; before it had been of the cannibals finding us and eating us, but now it was transmuted into fear of the bloodbath. I was afraid of Rick and his group and what they could and WOULD do to me. And then I had the epiphany that these people had started to go past a point of no return and hell, Rick was dipping dangerously over that drop into full-blown psychosis. There was no room for anything else now: I had to get away from here.

 _ **Well, the Termites are now dealt with, but what will this mean for Katrina? Will be updating shortly…**_


	5. Chapter 5

_**Chapter 5. And we finally get a bit more of Carl in this scene… *smirk***_

-5-

I lay on the pew pretending to sleep, and though my body was begging me to give in to it, I kept on telling myself that I couldn't. It was only several hours after the massacre of the cannibals and after the group had dragged the bodies outside, everyone decided it was probably best to get some shuteye before the morning. So now I was lying on this super-uncomfortable wooden bench hoping I wouldn't just fall asleep waiting for the others to drop off enough. I knew that some were still awake and caring for Bob in the back room, but most were asleep on the other pews, and the woman who had my gun, Tara, was sleeping a few over from me.

When things stilled a little more, I blearily opened my eyes and craned my neck to see if anyone was still awake. Not seeing anything suspicious, I slowly sat up and swung my legs off the bench, an action that caused Liesel, who had been sleeping at the other end of pew, to blink and sit up. The sound of her claws lightly tapping on the wood made me cringe and motion with my hand to stay. As I stood and tried to lessen the sound of the pew squeaking, I gathered her in my arms and lowered her onto the ground as opposed to her just jumping off which would probably wake the whole church. I moved on my tiptoes, afraid of the clicking if I put my heels down.

I had to do this tonight. After all, there was no time like the present and it could be tomorrow when they turn that absolute viciousness on me. And I didn't want to end up a bloody husk from Rick's machete. It wasn't like they would miss me either: I was just a spy, or scout, that had been watching them and working for the cannibals and now that I had no one to report to I was expendable, just dead weight. I looked at the church doors as I crept out into the aisle. Time for me to go.

Liesel followed behind me, ever the faithful companion, and I turned and knelt in front of her, running my fingers through the fur of her ears in that way she liked.

'Liesel, fetch my knife. Go on. Go on lass!'

Her beautiful brown eyes glowed at me as I whispered to her before she obediently trotted off to where the kid was staying. I allowed myself to smile as I snuck towards the altar where my katana and pack were still lying. Liesel was always very smart, so I had no doubt she would get what I wanted. I had trained her to fetch my knife and my gun at times. The katana was a little too big for her and the pack could explode while she carried it so I was never too eager to try that one.

I anxiously scanned the room as I slipped the katana around my shoulders and gently, but quickly, put the bombs and mines back in the red pack. No one had stirred, and I really wanted to keep it that way. Then my eyes zeroed in on Tara and I narrowed my eyes in determination. Time to get my gun back.

I slinked towards her and as I squinted through the darkness at her sleeping form, I could just make out the butt of a handgun tucked into her waistband, though I couldn't tell in this poor light if it was the Tactical or a different gun. Nevertheless, that would be the one to take. I grabbed onto it and tried to quiet my breathing despite the harsh beating of my heart, and inched it out while praying she wouldn't wake up. Thankfully luck was on my side, and I pulled it off without any mishap. Backing away into the aisle again I turned to gun over in my hands, feeling the red dot sight on the top. Yes, it was my gun, the Tactical.

I stuck the gun into my waistband and covered it with my army jacket when I heard the tell-tale sound of soft clicking on the floor. I turned with a hopeful expression to see the rippling shades of black and white coming out of the back room. Liesel had returned, and a slight silver flash in her mouth told me that she had fetched my knife like I told her to. Pride swelled in me as I knelt down again, taking the knife from her and giving her a good scratch under her collar as a reward. Liesel appreciated it very much, leaning into my touch and starting to purr under her breath. I quickly stopped in case it woke the group, still sleeping soundly through the whole thing. I silently patted my thigh as I turned and we stole towards the church doors. I didn't even glance back as I cracked a door open, stopping when it started to creak like I knew it would. Eventually I got to the point that I knew it would go no further without waking everyone up from the noise, and the gap was just big enough for Liesel and I to slip through if we were careful. The Collie went first, and after removing my pack I managed to squeeze through, shutting the door again before scurrying off into the night.

After being penned in a hostile church for hours, the Georgia night air in the woods had never tasted sweeter to me. The trees were still and the land was silent but I didn't want to draw any unnoticed attention to me, just in case. Liesel and I moved through the trees at a steady pace, my straining eyes flicking from the ground where they searched for any invisible twigs that might snap and give me away, to the woods around me where they watched for any movement that would suggest that I wasn't alone out here. I had just left the graveyard of the church behind and was about to make my way deeper into the woods when Liesel, who was a little ahead of me, stopped dead, perked her ears and turned back in the direction I had just come from. I glanced at her a moment, her behaviour confusing me just as I heard a twig snapping directly behind me. My brain shut down and relied on reflex alone as I whipped around, my unruly hair flying from one shoulder to the other as I grabbed my Tactical and aimed it…

…straight at the boy from the church, his gun pointed at me in turn and his hat casting even more shadow onto his face. I felt both relieved and irritated. I was thankful it wasn't a roamer since it would suggest that the woods were infested and there was a more likely chance that a herd was passing through further on, but I didn't want this kid following me. The plan had been to slip away before they could decide what to do with me, whether they would let me go as Rick had said he would or find some excuse to keep me longer. And I wasn't in the mood for questions at this ungodly hour of the night when I was running on little to no sleep. I didn't lower my gun as I haughtily spoke.

'Why are you following me?'

'To see why you're taking off in the middle of the night.'

He said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world. I lowered the gun slowly, not even daring to blink as it was dark enough that should I lose focus on him, it could take me a while to find his silhouette again. The only reason I could half-see Liesel was because of her Collie white patches. The kid lowered his gun as I did and we holstered them before he sighed.

'It's not safe out here.'

My shoulders shifted and I gave him a look he probably couldn't see. I settled for a snappy retort that was laced with a little less sarcasm than I had aimed at his dad.

'Wow, I had no idea.'

I heard a miniscule sigh escape his lips as I moved closer so I didn't have to be so loud and risk attracting roamers if there were any.

'How did you know I was leaving?'

His voice came out of the darkness.

'I woke up when I felt your dog take your knife off me.'

I glanced down at the shape and white fur of Liesel, still loyally at her mistress's side, and it was my turn to sigh. So my plan had been busted before I had even left the church. It wasn't Liesel's fault though. I couldn't find it in my heart to blame her.

'I saw you leaving with your stuff. Figured you weren't planning on coming back.'

'And yet you followed me. Why?'

I heard a slight crinkle in the leaves where he stood, and I knew he had shifted slightly. He paused before he answered, thinking through what he was going to say.

'My dad would've kept his word. He would've let you go at daylight if you wanted to leave. But you decided to leave in the dead of night.'

'I wasn't going to take the risk of being held there any longer than necessary. The danger's over.'

I bit back the next bit of that sentence about who was the most dangerous out of the lot was still debatable. Probably wouldn't do to spill that out to the boy about his group, and it stopped him from putting a gun to my head again. It was his turn to speak.

'You don't trust him.'

He didn't put it as a question.

'Would you? Just met the guy, all of this shit goes down the first night, some might think that it would be unlucky to stay.'

He was the one who stepped closer this time and now I was able to see his eyes under the brim of his hat, the darkness turning them midnight blue.

'And what do you think?'

I bit my lip, something of a habit when I thought now, and briefly looked at the invisible ground before answering.

'I don't know what to think.'

He didn't speak, waiting for me to continue and I crossed my arms over my stomach before speaking again, a little nervous for some inexplicable reason.

'Look, I've met a LOT of bad people in my time here. I've met thieves. I've met slavers. I've met rapists and cannibals and just plain pure psychos but never, in my entire life, have I EVER seen someone do something like that.'

I gestured with my head back in the direction of the church, though I didn't entirely need to. It was pretty clear what I was talking about.

'They would've killed us. We had to kill them.'

'I never said that.'

I ran a hand through my greasy mane of hair and put the other hand on my hip. He remained unmoving.

'I get why your group killed them. Sometimes you have to do bad things to carry on surviving. But to hack them up, slaughter them like that… I don't see how you can say you were doing the right thing when you kill someone in such a brutal way. Even the other people in your group were shocked by it. And if people in the group were stunned, how do you think it looked an outsider? To me? To Gabriel?'

He considered me for a moment and silence curled its way into the space between us. The words hung heavy in the night air and settled like a musty smell. I almost choked on nothing as my brain started. Why was I confiding in this boy-stranger again? He was slowing down my leaving and if we stayed out here long enough, people would come looking for him and find me in the process. No chance.

I turned to go again, patting my thigh to make sure that Liesel was following when he spoke again.

'Where will you go?'

I paused. Shit. Hadn't thought about that one. I didn't particularly want to tell him that I had nowhere TO go since he would question my decision to leave – more than he already was – and might persuade me to go back with him. Nope. I wouldn't be safe around those people. If even one of them caught sight of my bite and ran off to tell everyone, what was to stop them from turning me into mincemeat too?

He noticed my hesitation as he stepped forwards but before he could speak again I cut him off.

'I'm not going back there.'

If I had bothered to turn, I might've seen him cock his head to the side.

'Why?'

I pressed my lips together in a thin line as I again noted how much time I was wasting by just standing here talking to him. I spat out my inner turmoil.

'Because they don't know what to do with me. I get the feeling they haven't decided yet. The way I see it, I have two options with these people: either be released so I can go, kinda like I would be doing now…'

I gave him a pointed look that I had no idea whether he saw or not.

'…or I could end up like those other people.'

I gestured to the church again, the small specks of the windows illuminated with candlelight just barely penetrating the darkness.

'Honestly, I don't want to wait around to see which one they go with.'

I started to leave AGAIN when the boy stopped me. Eesh, the way this was going, come sunrise we would probably still be here. His voice held some hint of realisation as he spoke.

'You're afraid that they'll hurt you.'

Finally he had figured it out. Though why I had this fear I wasn't going to tell him EVER.

'Wouldn't you be?'

I turned to face him and saw that he was a lot closer to me than I had previously realised. There was barely a foot of space between us and since his arms were crossed like mine we were almost brushing. I was a little surprised that I hadn't noticed until now but I was careful to school my features to avoid giving it away. Those eyes bored into mine a little uncomfortably before his voice slid across the night air.

'They won't do that.'

'You can't promise that though.'

He continued staring at me intently. I was starting to get a little unnerved by it, to tell the truth.

'I promise that they won't hurt you. And if they do, well…I'll stop them.'

I looked at him incredulously at that. No one had been that willing to put themselves on the line for me like this boy, this total stranger, had just offered to do.

'You would put yourself in harm's way for a stranger you met a few hours ago? A girl you don't even know the name of?'

There was a pause between us which shifted between my surprise and his sincerity. Suddenly my eyes narrowed and my voice dropped, low and guarded. Just what was this guy's game? The question came almost as a hiss.

'Why?'

He looked down for a moment, considering this as I stared at him for any sign that he was playing me. If he was…well, he better run for the hills.

He looked back up at me and spoke with incredible clarity.

'Because not everyone can be bad. And I know I only met you a few hours ago, but…I don't think you're a bad person. If you were, you probably would've tried to kill me by now.'

'Trusting strangers is a risky business in this world.'

He motioned with his head the direction of the church.

'We were all strangers once you know. Now we're more like family.'

Our gazes locked and for some reason time seemed to slow before he spoke.

'Maybe you can become family too. You just need to give it a chance.'

His dark eyes pierced into mine.

'You need to give us a chance.'

Man, I thought I was iron-willed but this guy was starting carve away the resolve I had when I stepped outside. I didn't want to give in: being stubborn is usually a good trait in this world. But I was starting to fall into the trap that was those shining blue eyes that were staring at me unwaveringly. I bit my lip again, weighing my choices. I could go. I could go and never come back and continue surviving like I had done since this hell storm went down. Just me and Liesel. Like nothing had ever happened and I hadn't run across the church. But on the other hand…

Did I really want to pass up this opportunity? The opportunity for ACTUAL human contact with people who DIDN'T want to rape me or kill me or make me a slave?

I already knew the answer. I knew what I wanted to do. Well, more like needed to do. If only to try out the strength-in-numbers theory and keep myself sane from my own loneliness, I would stay. But that didn't mean I was going to be dropping my guard anytime soon.

I inhaled deeply as I stood a little straighter and matched his gaze, offering out a hand. He caught the motion and his eyes flickered downwards before he grasped my hand.

'Katrina McCailin.'

His palm was rough and warm as we shook hands slightly.

'Carl Grimes.'

We released hands and I didn't even notice how our fingers trailed over the others lightly before we dropped our arms back to our sides. I broke his gaze to check where Liesel was, to find that she was stood about a foot away from us and looking out into the black woods. We started to make the walk back to the church in silence until I spoke.

'Hey, sorry about frisking you earlier.'

He turned to look at me though I kept a wary eye out for roamers in the trees.

'I just wasn't in the mood to face down cannibals with my bare hands.'

'Don't worry about it.'

We traipsed up the steps to the wooden doors, and just before Carl opened the doors I hastily made sure the Tactical and butterfly knife were hidden under my army jacket. I was NOT having these taken off me again. However, when we reached the church just as the pale blue of dawn started to creep into the windows, I saw most people still asleep on the pews though a few were starting to stir and I mentally gave an irritated huff. Great, I was super tired and feeling drained and I had missed out on an opportunity to sleep. Oh well, it couldn't be helped.

I sat back on the pew that I had been pretending to sleep on as Carl went back into the back room where the baby was, almost like our whole exchange had never happened. Liesel hopped up beside me and I petted her absentmindedly. Already I was starting to question my decision to come back. Damn it, what was I thinking?! Were the risks of my bite and the psychopathy of Rick meaningless now?! I couldn't believe I'd let some stupid kid talk me into staying. Eesh, I was goddamn weak-willed.

I was broken out of my mental scolding as movement around me increased, and I saw nearly everyone was up and all heading into the back room where Bob was, dying from his bite while I was sat here, absolutely fine if not a little tired. They had obviously gone in there to say their goodbyes, but I remained seated on the pew. I had only met Bob a few hours ago, and I didn't want to intrude. But inside, I wished that I could talk to Bob, to tell him about my bite and explain and apologise. And to be honest, I really needed to know if I would be okay with these people, and since Bob was the only one who had been halfway-nice to me from the moment he met me, I trusted him more than anyone else in this group, though even that trust was minimal.

After a while people started to file out of the back room, though I noticed that Rick and the baby stayed with Bob. My bite started to get on my nerves as twinges of painful itchiness came and went and I flinched each time it appeared. Thankfully no one was paying me any mind – like usual – so I figured that maybe I should use this time to take a power nap. After all, I hadn't slept all night. Just as I was about to slide down and close my eyes Rick came out of the back room, coming up to me with a simultaneously sad and closed off gaze.

'He wants to talk to you.'

Bob wanted to talk to me? Why? I didn't voice my thoughts though. Instead I nodded, and slid off the pew to head into the back room. Upon seeing Bob lying on the couch in a sickly stupor I stopped while my insides twisted in grief and guilt. Why me? Why was I the one who hadn't turned?

'Hey.'

He looked over at me and gave me that cheeky smirk he flashed at me before.

'Hey there pretty nobody.'

I felt a little heat crawl up my neck onto my cheeks as I sat by his side, Liesel sitting next to me and nudging her nose into his arm.

'You said you wanted to talk to me?'

Bob frowned a moment before nodding, like he was remembering his request.

'I wanted to see how you were.'

I stared at him in a bit of shock. Here he was, lying on a couch with a roamer bite on his neck and a missing leg, an inch from death, and he wanted to know how I was?

'Me? I-I'm fine.'

He raised his eyebrows at me. Clearly he wasn't buying it.

'Okay, I'm scared and confused and isolated. I don't know whether to stay or to go and I don't know what this group thinks of me. And…'

I took a deep breath. If I could confide in anyone, it would be Bob.

'…And I have something I need to tell you, because I don't know who else to tell.'

The guilt clawed at me again. I was spilling my guts to a man who was dying. He didn't need my problems sorted, he needed rest. I was about to apologize when he spoke.

'I understand.'

A little childish hope rose within me that he was telling the truth.

'You do?'

'Yeah. I came into this group long after Rick and the others. I wasn't sure what they made of me either. But eventually I grew closer to them and became one of them. I'm sure you will too.'

I swallowed uneasily. It was time.

'But I'll always be different though. You see…'

Bob was looking at me intently. I think he could see on my face how serious this was.

'There is something I've got to tell you, and after seeing what Rick and the others did last night I can't tell them. I can't risk it…'

'What is it?'

I slowly stood and lifted my shirt, allowing him to see the roamer bite in my back. I heard him give a sigh of horror and I lowered it again, turning back to him to explain.

'I was bitten 11 days ago. I know because I've counted.'

I sat back down next to him, seeing I had his full attention.

'I haven't run a fever, or gotten sick. Apart from it being painfully itchy, it feels like I almost wasn't bitten at all. Now I don't know means, or why I haven't turned, but it might mean that I have just a delayed reaction time, and I can't tell Rick in case he…'

Bob laid a hand on my arm, stopping me mid-sentence.

'You've got to tell them about your bite.'

'No!'

It came out harsher then I intended and I closed my eyes a moment before continuing in a softer tone.

'No. I can't. I don't know what Rick and the others will do, and after seeing what they did last night…I'm not sure I want to find out.'

Bob looked at the ceiling with unusually sharp eyes, even as his skin was a sickly colour and sweat dripped down his face. We both sat in silence for a moment longer, me in apprehension and him in thoughtfulness.

'You're scared of them. I get that. After all, you found us when we were at war. But you have to tell them. If you are right and it's just delayed, you could turn when you're near baby Judith. You could turn next to anyone. So if you don't tell everyone, just tell someone. And if you don't turn…'

He trailed off and I looked at him with wide eyes. He turned back to me with an authority in his voice.

'You have to stay with this group. If you're immune there may be a cure inside you and after everything Rick and the others have been through…they're gonna need that hope. Even if you don't tell them yet, you need to stay close to them and try and watch out for them. Promise me. Promise me you'll stay and watch their backs.'

I was nervous, but I swallowed and nodded. It was a man's dying wish: I couldn't just refuse it. Bob must have seen the uneasiness in my face as he gave me a comforting smile and squeezed my hand.

'Hey, it'll be okay. You'll fit in and have a place with them before you know it. After all, if you've survived this long by yourself and only just been bitten you must be strong and smart. Don't worry about the future, and take it as it comes.'

I started to feel the heat behind my eyes and my vision started to become blurry. Bob didn't deserve to die. If I could swap places with him, with him being alright and me dying, right now I would. He began to drop off to sleep and I started to get up to leave him to rest, but his eyes suddenly became sharp again and he focused on me.

'So what is your name, nobody?'

I gave a sad little smile at that. He didn't have long, yet was still kind and giving comfort to scared little girls who didn't know what to do. I hoped that I could be half as brave as him someday.

'Katrina. My name is Katrina.'

Bob's eyes started to become glazed again, and as he fell asleep he muttered to himself.

'Katrina the Cure. Katrina the Cure…'

 _ **So, what do you think? Carl and Katrina finally get their first real interaction and Katrina gets some much-needed advice. And poor Bob**_ __ _ **. It was quite difficult writing this one but I hope it was okay…Next chapter up soon.**_


	6. Chapter 6

_**Chapter 6. Hope you enjoy it!**_

-6-

A day had passed since Bob had passed away, and I lay back on the pew as I contemplated ONCE AGAIN if staying had been the right choice after all. Now, it wasn't only about my bite or Rick's apparent hatred of me or the group brushing me off, but it was about my survival expectancy.

After all, I had the feeling I was about to be dragged into another shitstorm, and I was only on day 2 with these people.

As I thought about yesterday the familiar panging of grief settled on my already heavy chest and I flinched, like I flinched whenever the shovel had scraped across the earth as we buried Bob. He had died, as we all knew he would, but it obviously didn't make it any easier. As each member of the group took a shovel of soil and poured it into the grave in goodbye, I remember his last advice was floating around in my head the whole time.

Stay close, watch their backs, tell someone about the bite.

Stay close, watch their backs, tell someone about the bite.

Stay close, watch their backs, tell someone about the bite.

I came back to the present as I sighed, still lost in my thoughts. I wasn't one to ignore someone's dying wish, it was just…I didn't know WHO to tell. I couldn't tell Rick, or Abraham, or Sasha or Michonne, after seeing what they did to those people in the church the previous night. I didn't trust the others enough to tell them ANYTHING let alone a secret that could get me killed if revealed to the wrong people. The only one I was sort of on-par with was Carl, and even then we had had ONE conversation to get me back into the church (which I didn't know whether to regret or not) and we hadn't spoken since. And even if I told him, he would just run off to tell his dad and then I'd be in trouble anyway. Maybe…maybe the big guy, Tyreese, was my best option. He seemed kind enough and he would understand, hopefully, if I told him about the bite. It might even help if I told him that Bob told me to tell someone.

Bob.

As the thought crossed my mind, I knew it wasn't the best plan. Tyreese was mourning his death, like all the others were, but since it seemed his sister Sasha had a relationship with Bob he would be in deeper, and having this knowledge dumped on him and being told to keep it a secret was unfair to him. I shook my head inconspicuously. No, that wasn't the right option.

I rubbed my head and sighed again through my nose. Why did this have to be so damn DIFFICULT?

I also recalled from yesterday how this group had split. Abraham, his girlfriend Rosita and Eugene, along with Glenn, Maggie and Tara left ahead of time to get to DC. I still had no idea why they were so dead-set on getting there, but I didn't bother to ask. The rest of us stayed behind, waiting for Daryl and Carol who still hadn't shown up after tipping out the church doors the other night. It wasn't until later that night that Daryl, the man with the vest and crossbow, had finally come back but with a new face and no Carol. He had brought with him a skinny African American man who looked to be in his early twenties called Noah, and that night all night there was no sleeping as they planned to recover some girl called Beth from people who were holding her hostage somewhere. Or so I gathered. I remembered when Daryl had caught sight on me, sitting on my pew (I was now referring to it as mine) and petting Liesel while trying to figure out what was happening from murmurs of conversation.

'Who are you?'

I had matched his gaze – a trait I was getting good at with these people – and answered in a neutral tone.

'Katrina.'

He had glanced me up and down and gave a little 'uh huh' which I will admit pissed me off for a good while afterwards. With that comment, I could see he how would be right at home here.

I came back to the present as the sun JUST managed to make it over the trees, spilling dusty golden sunlight through the windows and I cracked my back. It had been ANOTHER night with minimal sleep, and right now the only thing I wished for was a good bed with a pillow and a LONG rest. People were starting to get moving, and I figured if I was staying here I might as well be useful somehow. Several people started filing out of the church doors and I made to follow them, leaving my pack and katana in a corner where I hoped they wouldn't be noticed. It was a risky move, I knew that, but I couldn't help all that much if I was weighed down at the back. And I promised Bob I would stay and protect them: I couldn't do that if they kicked me out for being lazy.

After a quick breakfast of two cereal bars dipped in peanut butter (with a breakfast of beef jerky for Liesel), I stretched my back and headed outside, seeing the group putting boards across the shutters and hammering them with posts. I took my cue and picked up a board and a post, miraculously managing to keep it up and hammer a nail into it at the same time. Out of the corner of my eye I could see several members of the group looking at me and sharing looks, but I ignored them. They didn't know what I'd promised to do.

I continued on this way for a while, going around the church with the others and nailing boards to the windows, Liesel stood at my feet in her stance that I liked to think as her 'keeping watch' stance. When I was on my third board, still working by myself as the others probably didn't know what to make of me helping out, Rick came up to me and spoke in an authoritative voice.

'You're gonna stay here at the church with Michonne and Gabriel.'

I stopped mid-hammer, though I used my hand to keep the board in place as I turned to look at him. He had his hands on his hips, a Colt Python holstered on his right hip and a red handled machete on his left. His beard and long hair gave him a wild look, making him seem just a little less human. His eyes were what caught me though. The blue was muddy from trauma and heartbreak, but I could see the strength in them. I couldn't find any trace of evil or sadistic intent. Maybe Carl was right when he said he would've let me go. Maybe under all the walls he put up and layers of things he had had to go through, there was a good man underneath it all.

I guess I would have to wait and see.

'Alright.'

I turned back to the board and continued hammering, seeing him nod once out of the corner of my eye and go off to talk to someone. I internally smirked as I thought he must be happy he didn't need to have an argument with me like when we first met. I grabbed another board.

As we moved around Carl came to help me, probably figuring we would be faster if we were working together, and I didn't complain. We didn't speak, but it seemed we didn't need to. We worked in tandem, making a surprisingly good team. When we were done I gave him a nod of gratitude which he returned, still no words spoken between us, and we split as most of us headed back inside the church.

Upon entering I now knew where all the boards came from. Out of the twelve or so pews that were there originally, perhaps five remained. All that was left of the others were shards and splinters. I quickly looked at the corner where I left my sword and backpack and saw it looking untouched. Well, at least they'd learned not to touch my stuff.

I stood back, away from the crowd as the group said their goodbyes. I saw Rick hug Carl and Judith, who was being carried in Michonne's arms. I crossed my arms over myself and watched, feeling my homesickness envelope me like it usually did. Seeing the interaction between these people – between FAMILY – made me miss mine all the more.

I missed my mother in London, I missed my father in Edinburgh, and I missed all the friends in between.

Maybe that was what made me go over to my pack, rummaging through it carefully until I found what I was looking for. I turned to see Rick just starting to head towards the doors, starting to be closed after him.

'Rick!'

He looked over at me, not really expecting me to say anything. And it gave a little sense of smugness to see the shock on his bearded face when I offered my hand, and gift, out to him. He took the grenade carefully, looking at me with some confusion that I was even giving this to him at all. All I offered him in a way of explanation was…

'You never know.'

He nodded, and pocketed it before turning to leave. I stepped back as the doors fully shut, feeling eyes on me which were most likely from Carl, and I tried to block out Judith's crying as Carl and I once again worked to barricade the doors. I could tell Michonne was trying to calm her, but it obviously wasn't doing much good. It took us a little while to barricade it enough to satisfaction, and when I turned I still saw Michonne trying to calm baby Judith, while Carl went off to do something or other and Gabriel was crouched on the floor, trying to clean up the traces of blood that had been left from the death of the cannibals.

My bite twinged and I knew I would have to take a look at it. What better time than now, with most of the people gone and everyone else distracted? Well, I wasn't one to pass on opportunity, and I went into the back room where Bob had been and where we had hid from the cannibals, seeing it look strangely empty without Bob's presence here. I quickly steered off that train of thought and made sure the door was shut, waiting to see if any of them came knocking before I gave myself the all-clear.

Carefully, I stripped out of my jacket and top, pulling at my skin and trying to twist my head around to get a good look at the bite. The movement dulled the itchy feeling and I did it over and over, trying to relieve the irritating sensation. Eventually I clenched my jaw as the relief wore off and I debated with myself whether I should scratch inside the wound. I could end up pulling the scabs off, slowing down the healing process. I could reactivate the roamer virus if it was still on my skin and it entered the open would, finally turning me once and for all. Was it worth the risk?

Eventually I settled for rubbing the inside of the wound, on the scabs and healing flesh. That way I wouldn't tear any scabs off and it relieved the itching that was driving me insane. I gave a sigh of pleasure as the tingling faded away, knowing it wouldn't last and making the most of it before it returned in full force. Eventually I ended up just sat on the couch, staring into space dressed in nothing but my bra and shorts.

I didn't think anything would make me forget the way I met these people: they dragged me in out of the night, interrogated me, took my possessions off me, ignored me and ordered me about. And now I was planning on staying with them for the foreseeable future. On paper, it looked absolutely crazy. I gave a sigh and put my head in my hands.

So many problems and thoughts pressed down on my mind that I now had to sift through them all, trying to figure out what to do about…well, about everything. First of all there was the problem of my bite, and all it entailed. Clearly since I hadn't turned after all this time there was something inside my body that the others didn't have, something that was mutating it or nullifying it, but I didn't know what it could be or how it could be unlocked to develop a cure. I was only a 15 year old girl; I didn't have the first clue about developing vaccines like this. And with THAT pushed aside, the fact that I was bitten was also dangerous.

My conversation with Bob ran through my head, and I agreed with him. He had said if the reaction was just delayed, I could turn next to anyone, at any time, with zero warning. It was a very real possibility, meaning that I had to let at least one person here know about my situation. I just didn't know who to tell, who to trust with this. There was also a possibility that if I told this group that I was bitten, they might not believe that I hadn't turned and either kill me to cut their losses or leave me behind. I figured it would most likely be the latter, but I made a promise to Bob that I would stay with this group and watch out for them. If they DID kick me out to die, I could just follow along behind them and protect them that way, but…it wasn't the best case scenario. And what of others? If another group found out somehow that I hadn't turned they could do all sorts of things with that knowledge: they could end up going to war with this group over me, they could capture me, experiment on me…kill me… I shook the thoughts away.

I also didn't have a choice about whether to leave this group anymore. I realize that my one and only window to leave was that night, when Carl talked me into coming back to the church. Now that I had promised Bob that I would stay with this group that ship had sailed. Whether that was a good thing or not, I didn't know. Images flashed through my mind of the massacre and a swirl of fear rose within me. These people may be tightknit, but there was a dark, brutal, bloodthirsty side to all of them that couldn't have been then before. They were very slowly devolving, each thing flung at them causing them to harden themselves, which I usually didn't have a problem with, but it seemed to be hardening them in a bad way.

All of this was giving me a headache.

I ran my hands through my hair and inhaled deeply. I could almost hear my mother's voice whispering to me what she always said when I got stressed and worried about something: 'whatever is going to happen will happen, whether we worry or not.' Just hearing that sentence in my head caused my chest to tighten and I gave a sigh that sounded more like a whimper than anything. God, I missed her so much. I missed it all so much it hurt.

I gave a little shake like a cat would, and brought myself back to the present. Dreaming of my parents would not help anything and would just make me upset. I had work to do here, and I had problems to fix. If I wasn't going to turn – if I wasn't going to just die – then I would face the future and try to lead this group to safety and to hope, like I had promised Bob. I nodded to myself. Yes, that's what I would do.

I gave my bite one last rub to get rid of the returning tickling and slipped my tee back on. I had no idea how long I had been in here for and I could just use the excuse that I was trying to take a nap and gave up or something. Stepping back out into the main room I saw that everyone had moved: Gabriel was still on the floor but he now had a bucket and sponge, still trying to clean away the bloodstains on the wooden floors, Michonne seemed to be taking inventory of something and Carl now had Judith, who was still screaming her lungs out. Well, that was something that I could fix. I sauntered over to Carl who didn't even glance up at me as he tried to shush her.

'Has she been crying this whole time?'

He nodded, still not looking at me. Judith's face was twisted as she cried and the sound of her little voice pounded into my eardrums, bringing on the first throbbing of the headache I was fighting against. Nope. This wouldn't do at all. I held my arms out expectantly, a movement that caused him to finally look up at me.

'Can I try?'

He blinked after a while, and I waited patiently as he deliberated in his head whether that was a good idea or not. I could almost see the thoughts behind his eyes, and I realized that I was getting better at reading these people. Eventually though, as Judith's crying didn't let up, he hesitantly handed her to me and I rearranged my arms to accommodate. She was warm, a soft heat against my chest, and I began to wander around the church with Michonne and Carl's eyes on me warily in the hopes that the movement would sooth her.

'Hush lass, shh…'

I started to rock her back and forth gently, murmuring soothing nothings to her. It quieted her crying only a little, but I could still hear an improvement. Involuntarily, my eyes rose to a window that looked out to the east and I allowed my memories to fill my up. They were sweet but heavy, like clotted cream, and the words came unbidden to my lips.

'Upon one summer's morning  
I carefully did stray  
Down by the walls of Wapping  
Where I met a sailor gay

Conversing with a young lass  
Who seemed to be in pain  
Saying, _'William when you go I fear  
You'll ne'er return again.'_

My heart is pierced by Cupid  
I disdain all glittering gold  
There is nothing can console me  
But my jolly sailor bold

His hair, it hangs in ringlets  
His eyes as black as coal  
My happiness attend him  
Where'er he may go

From Tower Hill to Blackwall  
I'll wander, weep and moan  
All for my jolly sailor  
Until he sails home

My heart is pierced by Cupid  
I disdain all glittering gold  
There is nothing can console me  
But my jolly sailor bold

My father is a merchant  
The truth I now will tell  
And in great London City  
In opulence doth dwell

His fortune doth exceed  
Three hundred thousand gold  
And he frowns upon his daughter  
Who loves a sailor bold

A fig for his riches  
His merchandise and gold  
True love has grafted my heart  
Give me my sailor bold

My heart is pierced by Cupid  
I disdain all glittering gold  
There is nothing can console me  
But my jolly sailor bold

Should he return in poverty  
From o'er the ocean far  
To my tender bosom  
I'll press my jolly tar

My sailor is as smiling  
As the pleasant month of May  
And often we have wandered  
Through Ratcliffe Highway

Many a pretty blooming  
Young girl we did behold  
Reclining on the bosom  
Of a jolly sailor bold

My heart is pierced by Cupid  
I disdain all glittering gold  
There is nothing can console me  
But my jolly sailor bold

My name it is Maria  
A merchant's daughter fair  
And I have left my parents  
And three thousand pounds a year…'

By this time Judith had settled in my arms as I continued to rock her gently, and her eyelids were starting to droop as she dropped off to sleep. I finished the verses of the song.

'…Come all you pretty fair maids  
Whoe'er you may be  
Who love a jolly sailor  
That ploughs the raging sea

While up aloft in storm  
From me his absence mourn  
And firmly pray arrive the day  
He's never more to roam

My heart is pierced by Cupid  
I disdain all glittering gold  
There is nothing can console me  
But my jolly sailor bold

My heart is pierced by Cupid  
I disdain all glittering gold  
There is nothing can console me  
But my jolly sailor bold'

Judith was fully asleep by this point, and I came back to myself to find that Gabriel had stopped scrubbing to listen to me sing, Michonne was leaning on a wall with eyebrows raised and Carl was still sat on the pew with such an open expression, yet it was one I couldn't read. All of them seemed to be frozen stiff by my singing and I took the opportunity to pad my way over to Michonne, and pass the sleeping baby to her arms. After going and sitting down in the aisle, my back resting against the only other pew, I cricked my neck and sighed as Carl broke out of his trance enough to speak.

'Where did you learn to sing like that?'

I gave him a side glance before putting my head back and closing my eyes, relieving the dull ache that had developed.

'I used to sing in a Christmas choir. I just got better as time went on.'

I must have zoned out or fallen asleep since when I reopened my eyes after what seemed like a second, I found that I was alone. Carl was no longer sat on the other pew while Michonne and Judith were gone and Gabriel was missing too. As I looked down though, I found that I wasn't completely by myself: Liesel was lying next to me, still fast asleep. As I attempted to stand I winced, feeling the joints creak and a stiff neck appear. Yeah, it hadn't been the best idea going to sleep there.

The click of my heels on the hardwood floor was muted as a strange sense of peace enveloped me. It was quiet, and calm. Such a thing was rare nowadays. I heard several sounds coming from the back rooms but as I deliberated going and joining them, my eyes drifted back to the east window and I got an intense craving to look out of the window. It made my heart beat harder and I swallowed down several breaths of air to try and calm myself. Nevertheless, I dragged the closest pew across the floors and tried to lessen the horrible scraping sound it made by lifting it up as much as possible. The sound caused Liesel to bolt up and, after watching my struggle for a few minutes, gave a groaning sigh and turned her back to me, going back to sleep.

Eventually, out of breath and even more tired than before, I managed to get the corner just under the window and climbed up the pew like it was nothing but a large step. Out of the window my view was predictable: the treeline seemed hazy and sleepy in the Georgian summer but as I rested my head on the glass and stroked the pane with my fingertips, my eyes closed to drift over the forest, across the state and to fly over the ocean, landing back on the shores of my country and sinking into my memories.

My world lay to the east.

'What are you doing?'

I remained unmoving as I answered Carl, who was walking towards me if the sound of feet on the hardwood were anything to go by.

'Remembering.'

My eyes fluttered open when I heard him step up beside me, watching through the window too.

'I've never been to Britain. I've never even left the States.'

I didn't know when he had decided to start being chatty but if I was to fit in here like Bob had said I should, maybe I should reciprocate.

'I'd barely left before coming here.'

We remained in silence a little while longer before he spoke again, softer and – seemingly – more vulnerable than I had heard him before.

'Tell me about it.'

I turned to look at him with a gentle frown. His eyes were like blue pools of bright curiosity.

'Tell me about Britain.'

I gave a half-shrug and looked back to the east.

'I can't tell you about all of it. I've never been to Ireland or Wales or the Isle of Wight, but… I lived in England and Scotland.'

'What's England like?'

I swallowed sadly and gave a sigh before I began. It was both the best feeling and the worst to get lost in the memories of home.

'I lived in York till I was six. I remember some things. I remember…I remember how the Shambles curved inwards like the buildings were about to collapse, and…the sound of the tour guide horses' hooves on the cobblestones. There was a chocolatiers by Monk Gate, we used to stop in there on special occasions and eat as we walked. There was a cathedral too, York Minster, and we climbed all the way to the top of the spiral staircase and you could see the city for miles in every direction…'

My eyes were glazed over as I relived all my memories of that city, my voice growing softer and warmer as a smile flickered about my lips in nostalgic delight as Carl watched me, listening intently.

'Where did you move then?'

I left my memories as Carl's voice seeped through them, locking them away to be taken out for later. I pressed my lips together and adjusted my stance.

'I technically moved to two places. My mother went to London and my dad went to Edinburgh. They split up.'

'I'm sorry.'

'Don't be. None of us were. Besides, it was alright in the end. As I got older I realized that more.'

I wasn't okay with my parents' divorce at first, but I learned that it was better in a way. I knew they argued as I grew up. They just didn't work well together as a couple, but they remained friends for my sake and they had done everything they could so that there was no bad blood between them. Not many people were mature enough to swallow their pride and let go of the past for the sake of their children, and I knew how blessed I was to have parents as wonderful as mine.

'I lived in London most of the year, going to school there and spending Christmas. I saw my dad in the summer holidays for 5 weeks. It was a good arrangement.'

'What's London like?'

'Large.'

I gave a little hiccup of laughter at my description. Yep, that was the word for it.

'I lived in a flat in Islington with mum. We had what we used to call Sleepy Sundays, where we would just stay in our pyjamas all day and eat junk food, watching The Simpsons…'

That got a little smile out of Carl. I continued, swept away by normal life: something I took for granted until it was gone.

'I remember sleepovers with my friends when I was younger and then going shopping and to the cinema with them when I was older. I also had gymnastics class and the Christmas choir, and my mum and I would go get hot chocolate afterwards, and we'd stand by the Thames to watch the fireworks on New Year's Eve…'

The sound of the explosions echoed in my ears and the bright colours danced across my vision as I felt my breath warm my red scarf on those freezing nights by the river. Gradually though, the vision cleared to see the church again, and at that moment I wanted nothing more than to just live in my memories for the rest of my life.

'So what about Scotland?'

I pulled my thoughts north to that beautiful gothic city. Cold, but beloved.

'My dad moved into a house on Rothesay Terrace in Edinburgh. I recall August most of all. It was the most magical month of the year.'

'Why?'

'Every day the streets would be lined with people from all over the world for the Edinburgh International Festival and fireworks would light up the sky each night. Every night for the three week period I made sure to watch them…'

My smile was matched by Carl, and as I remembered and he imagined we were bound by a world so far away.

'There were multi-level streets, and I used to go to the underground Princes Mall and the Traverse Theatre to see the plays…'

The air seemed lighter around us as I continued to tell him of it all.

'I remember so much. I remember walking up the Pentland Hills with dad with a picnic of bacon sandwiches and fresh fruit. I remember Cramond and Newhaven and Balmoral…Inverleith Park and Holyrood House. All the castles, all the halls, the ruins and the beaches and the villages.'

'It sounds magical.'

I looked at him again and he seemed to be captivated by the world I had just told him about. I answered softly as my eyes shone of the distant days so far gone.

'It was. It was home.'

 _ **Well, what do you think? I based Katrina's childhood partly on my own experiences, so I have been to most of these places and done most of these things. Please review, and the next chapter will be up shortly**_ __


	7. Chapter 7

_**This is it! My mid-season finale! I hope it works so please review and let me know what you think. Okay, on we go…**_

-7-

I was thoroughly enjoying the darkness of sleep when I started to feel myself come out of it, and left the world of dark comfort for a one of flesh-eating monsters and a hard pew. I winced as I rubbed my neck, sitting up and swinging my legs off the pew. My neck was STILL a little stiff from before, and I found that I was alone again. Not even Liesel was around. After blanking for a moment as to how I ended up here, I vaguely recalled that after I had told Carl of home I had decided to get some more sleep, and he had left me to go watch Judith with Michonne. Ugh, I felt rough.

I reckoned I should go and see if I could help somehow, and so went into the back room where I could hear the soft cooing of Judith, and as I poked my head around the door I saw Carl and Michonne playing with her on the floor. Liesel was also there, lying half asleep near Michonne. The sound of the door opening made Carl turn to look at me, and as I stepped in fully he gave me a smile. To be honest I was a little shocked at his friendliness, but I noticed there seemed to be a new sense of camaraderie between us now: a greater sense of understanding. It was that that made me return the smile a little and I knelt on the floor beside him, smiling at Judith as she gazed at me with large blue eyes. The tranquillity was quickly broken, however, as we heard Gabriel's voice.

'Let me in! LET ME IN!'

All our heads snapped towards the door and I wasn't far behind Carl as we jumped to our feet and headed out of the back room.

'Please don't leave me out here! Please!'

My katana, pack and other weapons were lying on the pew I had been resting on, and I hastily threw them on, swinging the sword and pack around my shoulders as I watched Carl head down the aisle to the doors where Gabriel was, calling for our help on the other side.

'Don't leave me out here! Carl! Michonne! Katrina!'

'Wait!'

Michonne's voice rang out as she appeared in the doorway, Liesel pushing past her legs to come to my side.

'I've seen! I know now! Let me live with it! Oh God, please…!'

I followed Carl to the doors as Gabriel continued to scream at us to let him in.

'Help! Let me in!'

A massive wooden board blocked the doors, and as I ran up I saw Carl was trying to pull it off. I quickly joined in, splinters starting to prick my fingers as the adrenaline rushed through me. I tried to direct our efforts.

'Okay, on three. One, two, three!'

We both pulled at the same, and though the board was bending slightly it wasn't going to break off anytime soon. Carl took over as we relaxed our pull.

'Again. One, two, three!'

I pulled again, this time putting a foot on the church doors to try and apply more pressure. We were grunting with the effort, giving all our strength to trying to pry the board off with our bare hands, but it wasn't even making a difference. Just as I was about to pull out my katana and try and slice the board off, Michonne came up behind us with an axe, Judith strapped to her back.

'Get back.'

Carl and I ducked out of the way as she started to hack at the board. Through the pounding of my heart I could hear the sound of roamer growls, and from the consistency, there must have been a lot of them out there with Gabriel.

'Oh God please! Help! Help me!'

Michonne continued to hack at the board, half of it now gone, and as Liesel stood at my side with her hackles up and muzzle curled into a snarl, I relished the sound of my katana being drawn from its sheath. I adjusted my grip while Carl drew his gun and, as Michonne pried the rest of the board off with the axe and Carl went to open the door, I took several deep breaths, getting ready to fight.

The sound of roamers grew louder as the door opened and Gabriel, panic written on his face, launched himself inside as Carl shouted to him.

'Come on!'

He then proceeded to get two headshots on the closest roamers as they started to pile through the doors, the four of us starting to walk backwards away from the herd. As I saw Michonne grab her katana to take them down, I threw myself forward and pushed her behind me, Liesel still waiting patiently for a whistle.

'Get back! Get back!'

No way in hell was I going to allow Michonne to fight off the roamers with Judith on her back. She didn't have time to argue either, as I ploughed ahead and started to slice into their soft skulls and I gave a low rhythmic whistle. Liesel immediately bounded into action, rounding up the strays that were going around the pews and leading them back to the funnel that the aisle created. A dark part of me savoured the feeling of the sword going through their heads as I swung and dodged their hands, the spray of the dead blood sprinkling onto the pews and floor. After all, the roamers had caused the world to end: they'd taken me away from my family.

I was never going to see them again because of these FUCKING things.

Anger fuelled me, and though we kept on backing away from the moaning herd I continued to take down any that were within reach, Liesel responding to each whistle I gave as she tried to duck around the roamers through the pews. I wanted nothing more than to take them all on, but something started to break me out of my hazy bloodlust: my bite was aching. Worry crept into me that the constant movement of swinging my sword had opened the wound again. I would have to stop soon, just in case.

We were almost at the bottom of the aisle, nowhere to go, when Gabriel seemed to realize something.

'The refectory. Follow me!'

I glanced back at the group and turned to take out two roamers that were gaining on me with a grunt of effort. I stayed a few seconds longer, buying the others some time to duck into the back room. I gave another whistle to Liesel, calling her to my side, before kicking one that was at the head of the column into the others before sprinting to the door and haring inside as Gabriel slammed it shut.

I was out of breath and shaking from the adrenaline rush, and watched as fingers started to curl around the door as Gabriel held it shut. Michonne grabbed a chair, placing it under the door handle. Carl had his gun raised at it, and I crouched down by Liesel to see if she was scratched or bitten anywhere. Satisfied that she wasn't, I glanced at the hole in the floor, boards littered about and a machete standing upright, stuck between two. Gabriel pointed at the hole and looked at us.

'It's how I got out. Crawl under, to the back. Just go! Take the little one and go!'

We didn't waste time. Michonne slipped the baby carrier off her back and gave Judith to Carl as she started to cry a little. I ran a hand through my stupidly long hair and frowned in concern. What if there were more outside?

Just as Carl was about to drop down with the baby in his arms, I stepped forward and stopped him.

'No, I'll go, make sure the coast is clear before you take her out there.'

I gestured to Judith with my head and hopped into the hole without another word, dropping onto my stomach and army crawling through the tunnel, under the floorboards of the church. I tried to move as fast as possible while being as quiet as possible, and thought I was actually doing pretty good when I saw something that made me stop dead, holding my breath in nerves. By the opening were eight sets of legs, just standing there, and I cursed in my head as I tried to figure out what to do. I heard something behind me and whipped my head to look around, and saw that Carl was directly behind me, clutching Judith in one arm and looking at me worriedly. Before he could do anything I immediately motioned him to be quiet, then showed him four fingers and pointed at the opening. He nodded slightly and I turned back around, knowing that I had very little time to spare. The roamers in the church would be right behind us, follow us through the tunnel. They were on both sides. What do I DO?!

After seeing they weren't moving off, I decided to make the first move and slipped my pack off silently, flipping over onto my back and placing my hands on the edge of the church walls. I took a breath, making sure I was calm. It was just gymnastics. Let's get this right. Using all my upper body strength I pulled myself out from under the church as fast as possible, managing to slide halfway between the legs of a roamer that had been standing just in front of the opening. I drew my legs up and brought them through, pushing with my feet against its chest to do a back walkover while grabbing my katana. As I stood upright I flicked my katana upwards, sending a spray of black blood up the church walls and cleaving its face in two.

I had no problem dispatching the other three, carving through the last one's head with enough force to send the top of its skull flying while Carl and Michonne crawled through the tunnel, the latter bringing my pack. I grabbed it with a nod of thanks as I swung it around my shoulders again, and gave a smile when I saw Liesel come through. She gave a shake that made her collar jingle and I knelt to pet her, murmuring praises for how good she was back in the church. She enjoyed the attention, pressing her head further into my hand and purring in appreciation. I watched as Gabriel came through last, bloody machete clutched in his hand. Michonne helped him up as he turned to her.

'I can't run anymore.'

Michonne's face was stoic as she answered.

'We're not running.'

I stood, swinging the katana in my hand to loosen up the muscles as I followed her around the church. It seemed the spikes of the church organ had proved useful, and I left Carl to finish off the ones that had been caught on them as I followed Michonne up to the church doors, grabbing one while she grabbed the other. The squeaking of them closing caught the roamers attention, and they started to make their way back down the aisle before the shut doors blocked my view completely. Gabriel came limping up beside us, a board in his hands which he held up to the door with a nail. I sheathed the katana, helping to hold the doors in place as Carl fixed it in with the butt of his gun. The doors started to judder as the first roamers reached them, and I leaned back to apply more strength. My breathing increased from the struggle as I saw the hands of the roamers snaking through the gap between the doors. Michonne took off her belt and fastened it around the doorknobs, an extra defence.

We all backed away from the doors, waiting in case the boards didn't hold and we had to brace them again. Upon seeing it was fine for the time being, we all turned and went towards a fence not far from the church in silence, resting against it and breathing audibly from the sudden shock of the roamer ambush. I hopped up, balancing precariously on the thin ledge of the fence as the panting Liesel came and sat by my feet. I gave a sigh and latched my fingers behind my head. Well, what did we do now?

I was so preoccupied in figuring out what our next move should be that I didn't hear him come up until he was stood right next to me.

'Hey, are you okay?'

I looked at Carl, tilting my head to the side.

'Yeah, I'm fine.'

'Your back's bleeding.'

I blinked for a second, wondering what the hell he was talking about, when it clicked in my head. I twisted my head around to see – yep, you guessed it – a red trail running down my shirt right from where my bite was. God, this wasn't shaping up to be a good day.

'Oh, um…'

I had to think of something fast. This must be the consequence of my bite hurting just before. What did I say?

'…an old wound must have opened or something.'

Technically it was true: the bite WAS an old-ish wound that must have opened up again. I bit the inside of my cheek for a moment before jumping off the fence.

'I should probably go clean it up.'

'I'll come with you, in case any walkers get free.'

Not planning on that, I tried to get him off my back. I still wasn't sure about confiding in him about the bite, and right now we all had enough on our minds.

'You sure? I'll have to take my shirt off.'

A slight blush climbed to his cheeks and I couldn't stop a little smirk from rising at the sight. He glanced away for a moment before looking back at me.

'I'll turn my back. It's not safe being alone anymore.'

I couldn't argue with that. Reluctantly, I nodded my head and headed a little way away, slinging my katana, pack and jacket off. Hooking my fingers under the bottom of my tee, I turned and looked at him expectantly and I hesitantly took it off when he had turned around. I could now see the extent of damage in my back. I checked my tee first.

The back was still wet with the red liquid, and it had reached all the way down causing my face to twist in disgust as it dripped off the bottom. Yep, there was no way I was putting that back on again. I ripped up the moderately clean bits before I threw it away with a sigh, and moved my hair out the way. The blood wasn't really blood, it seemed – it was too watery and ranged from pale pink to dark red. It had dripped onto my shorts as well and I knew that I couldn't wear these anymore either. I gave another sigh that sound more like a growl and yanked my boots off, checking once again to make sure that Carl wasn't so much as peeking before I took the shorts off. Reaching into my pack, I got out the only other change of clothes I had: a pair of black skinny jeans with rips in the knees and a black and dark red baseball tee. It was thin, thankfully, or else I would most likely die of heatstroke before the roamers had a chance to get to me. I pulled on the jeans before mopping up the streams of sticky liquid drying on my back.

'What wound is it?'

I jumped a little at Carl's voice, not expecting it after a while of silence.

'What?'

'Your wound. What is it?'

Uh…

'An old shiv wound.'

'Who did that to you?'

'A thief who wanted my stuff, and wasn't counting on me being there.'

Quiet crept between us again as I pressed the rags to my bite, staunching the leaking after a while. The rags were quickly becoming soaked by it, and I wondered what the hell this stuff was. Was it leaking out infected fluids? Was it just water? A weird type of pus? After thinking about it for a while more, I decided I didn't really want to find out. I threw the last one away and checked to make sure it wasn't going to just start leaking again.

When I deemed it okay to put my shirt back on, everything went to shit.

The snarls of several roamers emerged from the nearby bushes with zero warning. Both Carl and I whirled around to take care of them, but my katana was out of its sheath and through their heads before he could fire a single bullet. As I turned around to face him, I immediately knew I'd made a mistake. His face was plastered with a look of dismay and I cussed at myself in my head: he'd seen the bite.

I crossed my arms over myself and begged.

'Please. Please don't say anything.'

His wide eyes lowered in sadness and coldness crept into his voice, probably trying to distance any attachment he'd made to me from thinking I was about to die.

'I have to tell them.'

As he turned to leave a burst of panic shot through me. No, this wasn't what I'd planned. I hadn't counted on this AT ALL. I sprung across the distance between us and put a hand on his arm to stop him from leaving.

'I won't turn.'

He didn't even look at me, just shook his head again.

'You've been bitten Katrina. You will turn.'

'That's just it…I don't.'

That seemed to catch him by surprise. He turned to look at me with guarded curiosity.

'What do you mean?'

Okay, this was it. Time to tell him about the bite, about everything.

'I've been counting. It's been 13 days. 13 days since I was bitten.'

My voice was fragmented and laced with fright as I haltingly explained. His expression remained carefully neutral, however.

'That's impossible. Everyone turns after about 3 days.'

'It's been 13! I swear! It's been 13, and I'm not even sick.'

He looked at me closely, kind of like how he looked at me that night in the woods, but now he was searching my face for honesty. He must have seen the wild desperation in my eyes, but I hoped that enough sincerity was within them that he could see I wasn't lying. He must have found what he was looking for, as my eyes burned from his and my heart beat erratically in my mouth, because he eventually gave a slight nod.

'I'll have to tell Michonne. They need to know.'

Knowing that talking him out of that one was a lost cause, I gave a sigh and nodded. This was NOT what I had planned, but maybe…just maybe it would be okay. I let my hand drop from his arm and he started walking again but when I recalled something, when I called out to him, what I said made him stop.

'You said…that if they tried to hurt me…you would stop them.'

He slowly turned around to face me again. I padded forward, the hysteria gone and my hope hidden to the best of my ability. He had made me that promise. Would he stand by it?

'Did you mean what you said? Or were you just blowing hot air?'

He paused, and it made my eyebrows rise. That pause was enough to make me doubt him: you don't stay silent like that if you intend to keep your word. Just as I was about to give up on his promise and declare that he was full of shit, he spoke.

'I meant what I said. I'll stick to it.'

That tiny little doubt gnawed at me still, but I nonetheless nodded. It was a risk with a safety net: Rick and the others would be less likely to turn on me if one of their own was standing in front of them. It may have been stupid, but I was technically putting my life into his hands. Or that was the way it seemed.

'Okay.'

I whispered it so quietly I wasn't sure he even heard it. After a moment of silence between us, my eyes widened and a blood red blush started to climb up my neck as I realized: I was stood in front of him in my bra. I coughed slightly and crossed my arms over myself, feeling incredibly self-conscious as he seemed to realize too, a blush matching my own starting to make its way to his cheeks as he quickly diverted his eyes. I quickly put my tee on and tried to gather myself, taking calm deep breaths. It would be alright. It WOULD be alright.

After stuffing my army jacket into my pack, I grabbed it and my sword and we started to make our way back to Michonne and Gabriel, the nerves building in me till I seriously thought we were gonna have to stop so I could throw up. I swallowed thickly and knew I had to keep my cool. The two came into sight as I walked by Carl's side, a heavy tension between us. I tried to close myself off. If I was wrong about everything and was going to die, I was going to die with dignity. It didn't stop me issuing a warning to Carl though, hissing at him from the side of mouth.

'You don't keep your word and I'll drag you to hell with me.'

He didn't give any indication that he had heard me, but I know he must have. When Michonne turned to look at us, her face instantly became alert. She must have seen that something serious had arisen from our grave – if not still slightly pink – faces and went straight to the point.

'What's wrong?'

'Katrina's bitten.'

Carl wasted no time and Michonne and Gabriel looked at me with sadness and horror. I shook my mane out of the way and crossed my arms, a stance I took when waiting for an onslaught.

'It doesn't matter. I won't turn.'

Michonne came over to me, staring at me with such a direct gaze I felt the need to shift under it. However I remained still, giving an illusion of calm despite all my inner panicking with endless 'what if' scenarios running through my head.

'Show me.'

I turned warily, sliding my pack off as I began to lift up the back on my tee to do as she said. I felt another hand help pull it up, and I heard Michonne's almost inaudible sigh as she inspected my bite, and I knew what she must've been thinking. She let the shirt fall and I turned to face her.

'When were you bit?'

'13 days ago.'

'That's not possible.'

'And yet it's the truth.'

Michonne stared at me sternly for a moment. I could see the mental debate going on behind her eyes, and she eventually reached forwards, placing a hand against my forehead. I didn't move.

'You're not running a fever.'

'Which would suggest that…?'

I was going to lead her to the same conclusion I had reached, even if I had to handhold her through it like this. What I didn't count on was Carl answering.

'…that you were bitten only hours ago.'

I turned my gaze to him.

'But…?'

'…we've been with you for the past few days.'

'So…?'

'…so either you're telling the truth or you were bitten when we haven't been around you, if you got out the same way Gabriel did.'

I wasn't expecting that answer. I tilted my head and blinked at him.

'And I couldn't have been bitten then, even if I did leave, because…?'

From the silence, I guess that seemed to stump all of them. They all looked at me in confusion. No takers? Alright then. I turned and lifted my shirt again, guessing how long it would take for them to figure it out.

'Look again, what do you see?'

I could feel Michonne's hand holding up my shirt, and the soft footfalls behind me showed Carl was coming to take a closer look.

'It's not bleeding.'

I raised my brows and conceded.

'Well, there is that. What else?'

I twisted my head behind me and saw that the two were crouched, peering into the wound. Suddenly, Michonne's eyes widened, seeing what I had felt growing over the past days.

'It's…'

'…it's scabbing over inside the wound. So consequently…?'

Michonne answered this time.

'…you must have gotten the bite a while ago, like you said, in order for scabs to start forming.'

'And therefore I am telling the truth.'

She let go of my tee and they both stepped back, eying me with disbelief as I pulled it down and turned around. I gave them a cocky half-smirk and for the first time in a while, my voice was laced with mischievous sarcasm.

'Knew you'd get there eventually.'

All three of them were looking at me now, almost defying to believe it, but Carl was the one who broke the surprised silence.

'You're…'

I raised my head, swallowed thickly and squared my shoulders, now fully accepting the truth I hadn't dared to utter before.

'I'm immune.'

Less than a second later, we all heard the sound of splintering wood and the roamer groans grew louder. I slowly raised my hand up to my katana and I took my time getting a good grip on the hilt. Around me the others started to back away slowly, Carl drawing his gun as he spoke.

'Where do we go?'

I bit my lip as his question echoed around my brain. Where WOULD we go?

'The woods, perhaps? Start making our way to Atlanta…'

The cracking got louder and I saw Michonne look around at the woods, making her decision. Suddenly, the sound of an engine rumbled towards us and a fire truck came roaring in out of nowhere, crashing to a stop directly in front of the doors and full-on destroying the wooden stairs that led up to them. I blinked a few times, frozen in shock. Okay, wasn't expecting THAT one.

Then I saw who was getting out of the truck and my nerves came back in full force. Oh god. What would happen now? Michonne would tell them for sure and I wasn't sure what half these people would do. Abraham, Glenn and Maggie jumped out of the front while Rosita and Tara came around the back, Eugene nowhere to be seen. Had he died? Was that why the others had come back? What was going on? As I surveyed the others I heard a 'hey' from beside me and saw it was Carl, carrying my pack which he offered out to me. I took it with a half-smile.

'Thanks.'

He nodded before going off towards Tara, and I looked away to see Michonne hugging Maggie tightly.

'You okay?'

'Yeah.'

She broke the hug with her to grip arms with Glenn, smiling at the surprise.

'You're back.'

I saw Glenn's serious face and I sighed. That was not good.

'Eugene lied. He can't stop it. Washington isn't the end.'

Michonne's face fell before that stern, cold expression came over her features. I quickly realized that this was what her wall looked like.

'There's no cure.'

'I'm not so sure about that.'

I saw Michonne glance at me from the corner of her eye and I swallowed in the hopes I wouldn't spew my nervous heart across the dust. I crossed my arms across myself, and held my breath. Now these people would know, and I bet as soon as Rick and the others got back they would know too.

I couldn't decide whether that was a good thing or not.

Glenn looked at me a moment before he frowned slightly and turned back to Michonne.

'What do you mean?'

Now everyone was paying attention. Michonne quickly explained.

'Katrina was bitten a while ago.'

Everyone there snuck a glance at me, each one I took note of. Even Glenn, whose face closed off carefully before looking again at Michonne.

'But she's not even so much as running a fever, and from what we can see from the bite on her back she's had it for at least a few days.'

Glenn's dark eyes slid over to me and I shifted my weight. He started to stalk toward me, the air deathly still as everyone watched our interaction. I did my best to mirror his features – closed off neutrality. He felt my forehead like Michonne had done, and I made sure I didn't so much as flinch. He then motioned for me to turn with his finger and I did so, knowing what he wanted. I felt the back of my shirt lift around my bite as he inspected it. After a while, my tee dropped and I took that as my cue to turn around. He stared down at me as he finally spoke, his voice dangerously soft.

'This is your one chance, because we've just had our hopes crushed once and we don't need this again. Are you lying to us?'

No, I wasn't. I raised my head in a show of strength and honesty. I wasn't intimidated. I wasn't scared – okay, I was a little – but I was telling the truth. Eventually they would know that, as Bob knew it.

Bob…

'No. I'm not. I wouldn't anyway, even if there was something I needed from you. I made a promise.'

Glenn sighed, still reluctant to put his faith in this after finding out that Eugene lied so soon. He backed up a step and glanced around, turning back to Michonne.

'Where is everybody?'

Michonne's stoic face rose in a smile again, and she turned to Maggie.

'Beth's alive. She's in a hospital in Atlanta. Some people have her but the others went to get her back.'

I let myself feel some happiness for Maggie as she sighed in relief, but a layer of confusion was underneath it. Did Maggie not know her sister was alive? She mustn't have: she shouldn't have left otherwise.

'Do we know which one?'

'Grady Memorial.'

A miniscule smile reached my own face as Maggie ran her hands through her hair and looked like she was about to start crying. All the others had full smiles, even Michonne as she stepped back, as Glenn kissed her head and hugged her when she exclaimed.

'Oh my god…!'

She laughed a little as she returned the hug, and Tara spoke up from beside her.

'Let's blow this joint, go save your sister.'

There were murmurs of agreement, and after making sure I had everything, I climbed into the truck after picking Liesel up since she was light enough that I could. I slid my pack and katana off, since I couldn't sit in here with them on my back, and Liesel curled up beside them as I dropped my pack on the floor and leant the sword against the seat in front. A little bubble of happiness rose in me that Carl sat next to me, and as I felt the truck thunder to life and start to drive away from the church, I allowed myself to think over this strange new chapter in my survival: I had stumbled into a warzone, witnessed the end of it in a massacre, been talked into staying by the boy sitting next to me, and made a promise to a dying man that I would stay and give them hope. Then we holed up in the church and fought off an ambush before the others returned and learned of my bite. Now we were off to Atlanta to save this Beth girl and find the others.

It had been quite a couple of strange days.

I had been reluctant and horrified and desperate to get away at first, but as we drove off to Rick and the others I found that I was…I was grateful. If I hadn't found this group, I would still be wandering around in the wilderness with Liesel with nothing to differentiate every day from the next. Now…now I had a group. They weren't family, not yet…but they could be. Even that hope had me feeling more alive than I had done in I didn't know how long. I felt a rush of gratitude that Bob had made me stay with his last wish, because even if I couldn't see it then I could see it now: while I had to protect and give hope to these people, these people were giving me hope and bringing me back to life while I had been the dead survivor before. I bit my lip and closed my eyes, thanking luck or chance of God or whatever force had led me into their path.

Before I knew it the fire truck stopped and people started to file out. Glancing out of the doors, I saw the tall deserted buildings that made up the streets of Atlanta. Huh. I must have zoned out longer than I thought. Michonne turned to me and Carl before she hopped out.

'Stay here.'

We both nodded at her and silence seemed to envelope us as the sound of the others faded away and I looked over at Judith, happily situated in Carl's lap. I watched as Carl bounced her and allowed her to wrap her tiny fingers around his thumb, her making gentle cooing noises that made me feel better somehow.

'So…'

I looked from Judith to Carl, my face unnaturally open.

'So.'

His gaze flickered between me and Judith, his sheriff's hat casting a strange shadow over his face.

'What do you make of us? I mean, so far?'

That was a good question. What DID I make of these people? Carl's eyes stayed firmly on me as I stared into space, lost in my thoughts.

'Michonne is good, as is Gabriel.'

My look became more mirthful and I met his eyes.

'You're not too bad yourself, either.'

I saw his brow twitch in amusement.

'I kinda knew that already though.'

A small smile started to come across his face. It seemed the feeling was mutual. I continued more seriously though.

'It's the others I'm worried about.'

'I meant what I said.'

'I know.'

My eyes lowered before meeting his again, and the blue of them felt like it was piercing my soul in a good way. I then whispered the most dangerous words you could ever say to someone in an apocalypse.

'I trust you.'

The corner of his mouth turned up in a friendly smile and I returned it. It seemed we were friends now. Not just friendly with each other, but truly friends. However, our moment was broken by the sound of a woman's cry coming from the hospital. A burst of adrenaline thrummed through me before sadness overcame it and I sighed. It seemed that Beth hadn't made it. I heard Carl give a sigh from beside me too, and our eyes met in sorrow, knowing that things were looking down already. We seemed to shuffle closer to each other as we heard the others come back, the heaviness in the air seeping in as the door opened and they started to climb back in. None of us spoke. None of us had to. As we pulled away from the hospital into the new unknown, I pondered over what I had said to Carl. It was true: I DID trust him, probably more than what was good for me and I was glad for it.

My thoughts turned sombrely to another thought though: it didn't matter much, since one of us would most likely be dead soon anyway.

 _ **And that's all she wrote**_ __ _ **Hooray! My first fanfic finished! I have decided to do the mid-season breaks in this too since with college and work and everything I won't have much time for this, let alone any other ones. See you when I see you.**_


	8. Coming soon

**Coming soon…**

 **Hey everyone! Thank you all for the favourites, follows, reads and reviews and since some of you have been asking about a sequel so I've decided to post it up here.**

 **Yes, there WILL be a sequel – 'There Is A Home After All' will continue on and detail Katrina's journey to Washington and the appearance of Alexandria, but it may be a while before I post it since I'm still deep in writing it and working on other things. Stay tuned, and thank you once again.**

 **TheNightIsRising**


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